20th – 21st November 2024.
The WCO ESA ROCB is at the “Corruption and Tax Africa Regional Meeting” organized by the UNODC’s Anti-Corruption Hub. The meeting brings together key stakeholders in anti-corruption bodies and tax authorities to discuss good practices, ways to improve coordination and strengthen inter-institutional collaboration in corruption and complex money laundering-related cases in Africa.
Opening remarks were delivered as follows:
𝐌𝐫. 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐢, 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐔𝐍𝐎𝐃𝐂 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐮𝐛, highlighted the importance of the initiative in supporting UN Convention against Corruption alongside its aim of expanding revenue and pointed out that an estimated amount of 80B dollars is lost through corruption and embezzlement annually. He urged the stakeholders to openly share and discuss ways to address tax fraud and corruption challenge in Africa.
𝐌𝐬. 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐒𝐭𝐀𝐑 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, pointed out that this was the first of a number of meetings in Africa and the aim of the initiative is to support international organizations to prevent money laundering and tax fraud in developing countries. She reiterated that the collaboration and tax authorities was a timely initiative with a purpose of improving coordination and information sharing.
𝐌𝐫. 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐊𝐚𝐩𝐤𝐚𝐢, 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, representing the Commissioner General of Kenya Revenue Authority, Mr. Humphrey Wattanga, acknowledged the representatives from various Tax Authorities and the key stakeholders and welcomed them to Nairobi Kenya. He highlighted that the revenue authorities cannot fight illicit trade on their own it is imperative that they collaborate with relevant agencies. He emphasized the role of technology in combating corruption & illicit trade and streamlining trade in accordance with established laws.
𝐌𝐫. 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐞, 𝐎𝐆𝐖, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐂), 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭, emphasised the relevance of the meeting in formulation of strategies for mitigating corruption and tax fraud in Africa and reduce revenue leakage. He highlighted the various networks that EACC has established in Africa and robust regional partnerships fostered. He further outlined the EACC priority areas centred on corruption prevention and collaborations with relevant agencies. He pointed out that despite progress made on combating corruption, EACC faces various challenges such as inadequate bilateral agreements, different legal systems and limited institutional capacity.
#Corruption #Tax #Africa #UNODC #StARInitiative #WCOESAROCB #Kenya #Coordination #InformationSharing #MoneyLaundering #TaxFraud #KenyaRevenueAuthority #EACC Larry Liza