SOUTH AFRICA: The Africa Peer Review Mechanism gives up-beat reports on Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana but warns against continued corruption

Kenya has implemented key reforms in recent years, but rampant corruption continues to stifle economic growth in East Africa's biggest economy, a continental review body said on Tuesday (November 14). The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) said Kenya also needed to overhaul its outmoded constitution after previous attempts were stalled by political posturing and acrimony among the country's political parties. The peer review mechanism is a cornerstone of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the continent's economic recovery plan, in which governments volunteer to put their policies to external scrutiny. But African leaders have acknowledged that some countries were reluctant to open up to scrutiny and so far only 25 out of 53 countries in the African Union have signed up for review. "Kenya is relatively a stable country compared to the worrying neighbours, if we put it that way, and we also found that Kenya has much strength to mitigate against the outbreak of mass violence but has also its bits. Many of those factors, there has been makers of civil strife as well, such as strong ethnic divisions, socio-economic disparities, poverty and endemic corruption," said Dr. Afeikhena Jerome, the APRM Co-ordinator on Economic Governance. Despite noticeable progress in carrying out key reforms, the country still faced many challenges including implementing strong and effective anti-corruption policies, and enacting terrorism and money laundering laws. The government should also restructure state expenditure and its wage bill, the report said. President Mwai Kibaki came to power in 2002 vowing to clamp down on rampant graft and nepotism evident under his predecessor Daniel Arap Moi. But his government has been mired in corruption scandals -- some implicating senior officials -- drawing the wrath of Western donors and many of the nation's 32 million people. Global watchdog Transparency International ranks Kenya 142nd in the world in its 2006 corruption index. The report also assessed Ghana and Rwanda. It said Ghana was "an oasis of peace and tranquillity" in the tumultuous West African region, but corruption remained prevalent despite the government's policy of zero-tolerance. The APRM applauded Rwanda's efforts to achieve national unity and reconciliation after the 1990's genocide, but urged the government to establish a clear land policy and remove all restrictions on political rights, among other reforms. "Women's rights are promoted in Rwanda, they have the distinction of having the highest proportion of women in parliament, in the whole that's 49% of women in parliament and there's also a high proportion in government. There's also low levels of corruption, this we corroborated during the review mission and so we do think this a best practise," said Nana Boateng a research analyst working with APRM. Analysts say the peer review mechanism has moved slowly since its inception due to a manpower shortage and a reluctance to punish countries that do not conform. Only a handful of countries have been assessed to date.

ITN Source | November 17, 2006

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