Date: 02/03/2007
Source: Department of Public Service and Administration
Title: Fraser-Moleketi: Closing remarks African Forum on Fighting Corruption
Closing remarks by Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi during the African Forum on Fighting Corruption
Your Excellency, Former President of Mauritius
Your Excellency, Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia
Commissioner Joiner
Ministers
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocols observed
It is South Africa's honour to have hosted you here in Ekurhuleni. I do trust that you have found this Forum worth your while, many of you have travelled far, have had to rearrange you busy schedules and had to defer some of your work back home to be present. I am certain this Forum has inspired and invigorated you so that you can return to your capitals and places of work with a renewed sense of purpose in the fight against corruption.
On behalf of my government, the African Union Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) I thank you for your participation. Your willingness to share your experiences and practices is highly appreciated.
The Ekurhuleni Declaration is inspiring. It is an accurate reflection of the collective will of all of us and those whom we represent. We are on the right path towards liberating Africa from the shackles of corruption.
Allow me to thank all of you for making this Forum the success that it is. The presentations, the discussions and debates and the overall engagement with the topic have been of a calibre that is outstanding. And I want to categorically state that those who think that we in Africa do not take the issue of corruption in all its forms and manifestations are seriously mistaken.
I want to thank Commissioner Joiner and her team for their contributions and in particular for their assistance in drafting the Final Declaration. The Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia who has been tireless in her work at this Forum, thank you Deputy Prime Minister; and I want to thank UNECA and in particular Professor Okey Onjeyekwe for their work and effort.
And I want to thank our colleagues from Algeria, Mozambique and Cameroon, who have assisted us in the translation of the Final Declaration into French, Arabic and Portuguese. If I am not mistaken this is a likely first in multi-lateral co-operation where senior officials have taken direct responsibility for working on the final text of a Declaration. Well done.
At the end of my address to you on the first day, using the words of Ben Okri, I implored you to re-dream. As we engage more rigorously in our analysis of corruption, let us as Africans imagine a world that exists without corruption. As Ben Okri has said, "The worst realities of our age are manufactured realities. It is therefore our task, as creative participants in the universe, to re-dream our world. The fact of possessing imagination means that everything can be re-dreamed. (http://www.thinkexist.com/quotes/ben_okri/). In this way, let us exercise leadership and judgment in the building of a world that rests on the principles of ubuntu. This is not impossibility, for as Okri continues: "The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering."
At this Forum all of us have demonstrated an enormous capacity to re-dream with a view to transforming our continent into one that is corruption free. You have demonstrated this with vigour and an urgency that has been remarkable.
At this Forum we have collectively made a huge contribution to the corruption/anti-corruption discourse. We have re-appropriated the discourse and the language of the discourse. We have redefined the discourse and the actual terrain of the discourse by going beyond the simple corrupter-corrupted relationship. We have consciously eschewed current discourses which focus solely on perceptions and blame. We have agreed that corruption is a global phenomenon, it is rooted in history but its contemporary manifestations must be located in an understanding of colonialism, neo-colonialism and globalisation. We have suggested that in the era of globalisations, many states are vulnerable to the power of trans-national corporations.
We have agreed that it is far more useful in developing a common understanding of corruption to focus on the interface between politics and economics. As we have argued throughout, a broader conception and definition of corruption must recognise that corrupt practices take place in the interface between the public sector, the private sector and even the civil society sector.
One of the most significant contributions this Forum has made to the discourse on corruption is our insistence on rooting our fight against all forms of corruption in a value system that draws on traditional communal and egalitarian values and on democratic values. Traditional African society was forged on the basis of communal values. Ubuntu "I am what I am because of who we all are", contrasts markedly with the values of rampant free market capitalism under globalisation which emphasise individual wealth acquisition.
The values of ubuntu and ujamaa inform our humanity, they tell us that we are human by virtue of doing for others. This is the essence of our spirit of fighting corruption. This is the spirit we must continue to encourage in all sectors of our society. This is the spirit that is necessary for the creation of a socially cohesive and inclusive Africa that is free of corruption. We all agree we are defined by our relation to others, and that we must subscribe to the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. Then it follows that we individually, collectively and as nation states must be judged by what we do for others in the public and more importantly in the private spheres.
We must reject the view that as individuals we are linked only by commercial transactions, and that we are accountable to no one, and need to justify our actions to nobody. In his book of essays, Morning Yet On Creation Day, Achebe has embraced instead the idea at the heart of the African oral tradition: that "art is, and always was, at the service of man. Our ancestors created their myths and told their stories for a human purpose." For this reason, Achebe believes that "any good story, any good novel, should have a message, should have a purpose." And the story of this Forum is that we have purpose and political will to root out and prevent corruption.
In Things Fall Apart, Achebe's first novel, he tells the story of an Ibo village of the late 1800s and one of its great men, Okonkwo, who has achieved much in his life. The order in the village is disrupted, with the appearance of the white man in Africa and with the introduction of his religion. What ensues is a clash of cultures and values, vested in the person of Okonkwo. And traditional values are dealt crushing blows by powerful distorting forces with the result that in the end, traditional society and its values Okonkwo is unable to adapt to the changes that accompany colonialism. In the end, in frustration, he kills an African employed by the British, and then commits suicide, a sin against the tradition to which he is bound. In the book Achebe achieves a very fine balance in reflecting on the human consequences of the clash of two cultures. In showing Ibo society before and after the coming of the colonisers, he avoids the temptation to present the past as idealised and the present as ugly and unsatisfactory.
Achebe shows us that justice and fairness are matters of great importance in traditional African societies. They have complex social institutions that administer justice in fair and rational ways. But colonialism upset that balance. And the colonisers on their so called civilising mission declared local laws to be barbaric, and used this claim as an excuse to impose their own laws. And things truly fall apart and the moral centre of traditional society and the bonds of humanity are broken.
As we develop our economies and our countries, let us be mindful of our deliberations at this Forum that we cannot have development at all costs. We cannot develop by allowing a permissive environment for corruption to flourish. Corruption is detrimental to long term sustainable development. Corruption costs and grand corruptions costs even more. Corruption is inimical to development; it perpetuates inequality, increases wealth and asset gaps between rich and poor on national, regional, continental and global scales. It reproduces conditions of underdevelopment and poverty. It is morally wrong and offensive; it is illegal and it can no longer be tolerated. It must be eradicated. And we collectively must dedicate ourselves to its eradication.
Now is the time to reclaim and reassert and introduce into the global discourse the uniquely African perspective. It must emerge from our own understanding of our traditions of fairness, justice and humanity. We can and must do no less. Our next step is Global Forum V; we need to be there in our numbers and in our willingness to carry this redefined discourse to the global stage. We must demonstrate to the world the seriousness with which we have deliberated and the seriousness with which we dedicate ourselves to fighting corruption. And we need to enter that space determined to work in a collaborative fashion with other nation states for in our collective wisdom we have agreed, and rightly so that no nation is free of corruption, that it benefits the few and harms the many. And we have agreed that we need inter state co-operation on a number of fronts and in a number of spheres to be effective in our fight against corruption. Let us continue to be seized by the possibilities open to us.
We look forward to hosting you once again at Global Forum V where I am certain Africa will have a huge impact on shaping both the debate and the outcome of the Forum. I wish you a very safe trip home and thank you once again.
Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
2 March 2007
Source: Department of Public Service and Administration
Title: Fraser-Moleketi: Closing remarks African Forum on Fighting Corruption
Closing remarks by Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi during the African Forum on Fighting Corruption
Your Excellency, Former President of Mauritius
Your Excellency, Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia
Commissioner Joiner
Ministers
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocols observed
It is South Africa's honour to have hosted you here in Ekurhuleni. I do trust that you have found this Forum worth your while, many of you have travelled far, have had to rearrange you busy schedules and had to defer some of your work back home to be present. I am certain this Forum has inspired and invigorated you so that you can return to your capitals and places of work with a renewed sense of purpose in the fight against corruption.
On behalf of my government, the African Union Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) I thank you for your participation. Your willingness to share your experiences and practices is highly appreciated.
The Ekurhuleni Declaration is inspiring. It is an accurate reflection of the collective will of all of us and those whom we represent. We are on the right path towards liberating Africa from the shackles of corruption.
Allow me to thank all of you for making this Forum the success that it is. The presentations, the discussions and debates and the overall engagement with the topic have been of a calibre that is outstanding. And I want to categorically state that those who think that we in Africa do not take the issue of corruption in all its forms and manifestations are seriously mistaken.
I want to thank Commissioner Joiner and her team for their contributions and in particular for their assistance in drafting the Final Declaration. The Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia who has been tireless in her work at this Forum, thank you Deputy Prime Minister; and I want to thank UNECA and in particular Professor Okey Onjeyekwe for their work and effort.
And I want to thank our colleagues from Algeria, Mozambique and Cameroon, who have assisted us in the translation of the Final Declaration into French, Arabic and Portuguese. If I am not mistaken this is a likely first in multi-lateral co-operation where senior officials have taken direct responsibility for working on the final text of a Declaration. Well done.
At the end of my address to you on the first day, using the words of Ben Okri, I implored you to re-dream. As we engage more rigorously in our analysis of corruption, let us as Africans imagine a world that exists without corruption. As Ben Okri has said, "The worst realities of our age are manufactured realities. It is therefore our task, as creative participants in the universe, to re-dream our world. The fact of possessing imagination means that everything can be re-dreamed. (http://www.thinkexist.com/quotes/ben_okri/). In this way, let us exercise leadership and judgment in the building of a world that rests on the principles of ubuntu. This is not impossibility, for as Okri continues: "The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering."
At this Forum all of us have demonstrated an enormous capacity to re-dream with a view to transforming our continent into one that is corruption free. You have demonstrated this with vigour and an urgency that has been remarkable.
At this Forum we have collectively made a huge contribution to the corruption/anti-corruption discourse. We have re-appropriated the discourse and the language of the discourse. We have redefined the discourse and the actual terrain of the discourse by going beyond the simple corrupter-corrupted relationship. We have consciously eschewed current discourses which focus solely on perceptions and blame. We have agreed that corruption is a global phenomenon, it is rooted in history but its contemporary manifestations must be located in an understanding of colonialism, neo-colonialism and globalisation. We have suggested that in the era of globalisations, many states are vulnerable to the power of trans-national corporations.
We have agreed that it is far more useful in developing a common understanding of corruption to focus on the interface between politics and economics. As we have argued throughout, a broader conception and definition of corruption must recognise that corrupt practices take place in the interface between the public sector, the private sector and even the civil society sector.
One of the most significant contributions this Forum has made to the discourse on corruption is our insistence on rooting our fight against all forms of corruption in a value system that draws on traditional communal and egalitarian values and on democratic values. Traditional African society was forged on the basis of communal values. Ubuntu "I am what I am because of who we all are", contrasts markedly with the values of rampant free market capitalism under globalisation which emphasise individual wealth acquisition.
The values of ubuntu and ujamaa inform our humanity, they tell us that we are human by virtue of doing for others. This is the essence of our spirit of fighting corruption. This is the spirit we must continue to encourage in all sectors of our society. This is the spirit that is necessary for the creation of a socially cohesive and inclusive Africa that is free of corruption. We all agree we are defined by our relation to others, and that we must subscribe to the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. Then it follows that we individually, collectively and as nation states must be judged by what we do for others in the public and more importantly in the private spheres.
We must reject the view that as individuals we are linked only by commercial transactions, and that we are accountable to no one, and need to justify our actions to nobody. In his book of essays, Morning Yet On Creation Day, Achebe has embraced instead the idea at the heart of the African oral tradition: that "art is, and always was, at the service of man. Our ancestors created their myths and told their stories for a human purpose." For this reason, Achebe believes that "any good story, any good novel, should have a message, should have a purpose." And the story of this Forum is that we have purpose and political will to root out and prevent corruption.
In Things Fall Apart, Achebe's first novel, he tells the story of an Ibo village of the late 1800s and one of its great men, Okonkwo, who has achieved much in his life. The order in the village is disrupted, with the appearance of the white man in Africa and with the introduction of his religion. What ensues is a clash of cultures and values, vested in the person of Okonkwo. And traditional values are dealt crushing blows by powerful distorting forces with the result that in the end, traditional society and its values Okonkwo is unable to adapt to the changes that accompany colonialism. In the end, in frustration, he kills an African employed by the British, and then commits suicide, a sin against the tradition to which he is bound. In the book Achebe achieves a very fine balance in reflecting on the human consequences of the clash of two cultures. In showing Ibo society before and after the coming of the colonisers, he avoids the temptation to present the past as idealised and the present as ugly and unsatisfactory.
Achebe shows us that justice and fairness are matters of great importance in traditional African societies. They have complex social institutions that administer justice in fair and rational ways. But colonialism upset that balance. And the colonisers on their so called civilising mission declared local laws to be barbaric, and used this claim as an excuse to impose their own laws. And things truly fall apart and the moral centre of traditional society and the bonds of humanity are broken.
As we develop our economies and our countries, let us be mindful of our deliberations at this Forum that we cannot have development at all costs. We cannot develop by allowing a permissive environment for corruption to flourish. Corruption is detrimental to long term sustainable development. Corruption costs and grand corruptions costs even more. Corruption is inimical to development; it perpetuates inequality, increases wealth and asset gaps between rich and poor on national, regional, continental and global scales. It reproduces conditions of underdevelopment and poverty. It is morally wrong and offensive; it is illegal and it can no longer be tolerated. It must be eradicated. And we collectively must dedicate ourselves to its eradication.
Now is the time to reclaim and reassert and introduce into the global discourse the uniquely African perspective. It must emerge from our own understanding of our traditions of fairness, justice and humanity. We can and must do no less. Our next step is Global Forum V; we need to be there in our numbers and in our willingness to carry this redefined discourse to the global stage. We must demonstrate to the world the seriousness with which we have deliberated and the seriousness with which we dedicate ourselves to fighting corruption. And we need to enter that space determined to work in a collaborative fashion with other nation states for in our collective wisdom we have agreed, and rightly so that no nation is free of corruption, that it benefits the few and harms the many. And we have agreed that we need inter state co-operation on a number of fronts and in a number of spheres to be effective in our fight against corruption. Let us continue to be seized by the possibilities open to us.
We look forward to hosting you once again at Global Forum V where I am certain Africa will have a huge impact on shaping both the debate and the outcome of the Forum. I wish you a very safe trip home and thank you once again.
Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
2 March 2007
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