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Speaking to Channel Africa on Monday, African Anti-Corruption Day, Janak said corruption diverts resources away from development priorities and limits the impact of public spending across the continent.<\/p>\n
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African Anti-Corruption Day, commemorated over the weekend, July 11, marks the adoption of the African Union (AU) Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. This year\u2019s theme, \u201cScaling Up the Promotion of Integrity and Anti-Corruption Actions Across Africa,\u201d focuses on strengthening transparency, accountability and good governance.<\/p>\n
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Janak, Director of Programmes at the Kenya Correspondents Association and a Steering Committee member of the Kenya Leadership Integrity Forum, said corruption often manifests through delayed projects, inflated costs and the misappropriation of public funds.<\/p>\n
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According to Janak, resources that should finance infrastructure, healthcare, education and other development priorities are frequently lost through corrupt practices or transferred outside African countries.<\/p>\n
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Janak noted that the scale of financial losses linked to corruption often exceeds the value of development assistance received from international partners, making the issue a significant barrier to economic growth.<\/p>\n
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Infrastructure and mining were identified as among the sectors most vulnerable to corruption. Janak said large procurement contracts associated with roads, railways, telecommunications and other public works create opportunities for inflated costs and irregular spending.<\/p>\n
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The mining sector also remains exposed, with concerns that poor oversight and weak governance can prevent local communities from benefiting fully from natural resource wealth.<\/p>\n
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According to Janak, corruption in these sectors can fuel social tensions, environmental damage and conflict between communities, governments and private investors.<\/p>\n
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To address the problem, Janak said African countries must prioritise good governance, accountability and strong institutions.<\/p>\n
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Janak argued that effective leadership is essential for implementing reforms that improve transparency, strengthen procurement systems and ensure better management of public resources. \u201cGood governance will bring about policy, legal and administrative changes that ensure systems work properly and deliver value for citizens,\u201d said Janak.<\/p>\n
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Janak also highlighted the role of national legislatures in strengthening accountability, noting that parliaments must remain responsive to public interests and play an active oversight role.<\/p>\n
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Beyond national reforms, Janak said regional and continental organisations, including the AU, the Southern African Development Community, the East African Community and the Economic Community of West African States, can help promote best practices through policy coordination and knowledge-sharing.<\/p>\n
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Initiatives linked to the AU\u2019s Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area are already encouraging discussions around governance reforms and institutional improvements, according to Janak.<\/p>\n
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While progress varies across countries, Janak said examples of stronger governance frameworks in parts of Southern, Western and Northern Africa demonstrate that reforms can deliver positive results.<\/p>\n
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According to Janak, greater collaboration, benchmarking and the exchange of successful experiences will be critical if African countries are to strengthen transparency, reduce corruption and unlock long-term development opportunities.<\/p>\n
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–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":39472,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-39471","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Corruption continues to undermine economic development, public service delivery and social progress across Africa, according to governance and Anti-Corruption Expert William Oloo Janak.","published_date":"","news_description":"Corruption continues to undermine economic development, public service delivery and social progress across Africa, according to governance and Anti-Corruption Expert William Oloo Janak.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39473,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39471\/revisions\/39473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}