CHIEF QUESTIONS UN STAND ON CULTURE OF GIVING GIFTS

EZULWINI – Chief Kekela expressed worry about the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) that it will rule, as corrupt, the cultural practice of giving gifts.

The senator, who was one of the politicians who attended a UNCAC capacity building workshop at Sibane Hotel yesterday, wanted to know from two experts from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) how they interpreted the act of gifting.
The experts are Tania Santucci from UNODC Vienna, Austria and Tim Steele from UNODC South Africa.

They are here to assist in the kingdom’s self assessment review exercise with regard to the UN Convention.
The three-day workshop was attended by Members of Portfolio Committees on Gender, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Chief Kekela said it was embedded in the culture of Swazis that they sometimes offered each other something tangible as a token of appreciation.
Since he spoke in vernacular, Linda Dlamini, Senior Education Officer for the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), clarified to the senator that the UN Convention was not there to disassociate the kingdom from its traditions.

He said there was nothing wrong with giving, but the problem started when it was being used to gain advantage or favour. “This is not to say people should not reward each other per se,” Dlamini stressed.
He said even though the country had already taken steps in having legislation to counteract corruption, more effort needed to be put in reaching the standard of the UNCAC.

Another Senator, Prince Fipha, wondered whether the review processes clearly indicated the increase or decrease in corruption. Steele responded that corruption was a difficult thing to measure.
He said international indexes were just perceptions. But he urged legislators to fully support the ACC’s endeavours to make the processes work to the country’s advantage.

Meanwhile, Santucci said corruption was prevalent all over the world and no one was immune to it.
She said unfortunately it undermined the rule of law and Millennium Development Goals.

“UNCAC is the main global instrument against corruption and is applicable in 172 out of 193 countries of the world. Swaziland first signed the convention in September 2005 and ratified it in 2012. The convention highlights the importance of laws and institutions against corruption,” she explained.

Pillars of UNCAC include preventive measures, criminalisation and law enforcement, asset recovery and international cooperation. She said questions such as the prosecution being capacitated enough and also independent needed to be looked at.
One of the objectives of the review exercise is to promote the implementation of legislations that meet the benchmarks of the UNODC.

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