Leveraging digital technology to combat corruption – Veep

Vice President Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia has called on anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies in Africa to leverage digital technology to combat corruption.

He said: “In an era of sophisticated artificial intelligence, cybercrime enabled is for anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to invest in digital forensics and tools that will enable our various countries to track, trace and disrupt the entire value chain of the corruption”.

The Vice President made the call at the 14th Commonwealth Regional Congress and Annual Regional Conference of Anti-Corruption Agencies in the Commonwealth of Africa, currently underway in Accra.

The four-day event is organized by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), under the theme: “Strengthening institutions and promoting transparency: a means to combat corruption in the Commonwealth of Africa”.

More than 120 delegates from anti-corruption institutions from 21 Commonwealth countries are attending.

Dr. Bawumia, who delivered the keynote address under the theme: “Forging Partnerships: Plan for Forensic Investigations and Asset Recovery in the Commonwealth of Africa”, said that with the right digital tools and their use, anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies Law enforcement could defeat the worst forms. of public corruption, including the networks that supported it.

He said digital technology had the ability to track and disrupt corruption and related activities of actors in the corruption value chain.

The Vice President called on anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to establish customized security operations centers to combat corruption, adding that bribery and corruption threaten the development of Africa and its youth.

He said corruption diverted and denied Africa the financial resources needed to develop and finance education, health and infrastructure.

Dr Bawumia said some estimates suggested that over the past five decades, more than $1 trillion, equivalent to all official development assistance, was lost in Africa due to corruption and illicit financial flows.

He said this should be a deeply worrying situation for all Africans, especially anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies.

“No country, no region or community is immune. It harms education, health, justice, democracy and development, and is one of the biggest impediments to achieving the sustainable development goals. I am hopeful that together we will continue our efforts to defeat corruption in Africa in all its forms,” said the vice president.

Grant Thornton, UK, LLP partner Amaechi Nsofor called for political will, collaboration and international funding to help combat corruption and illicit financial flows.

He said corruption costs Africa about $100 billion a year and illicit financial flows cost about $60 billion.

Nsofor said the cost of corruption and illicit financial flows was more than $120 billion annually needed to address Africa’s infrastructure gap.

“If we are able to tackle corruption and illicit financial flows from Africa, there will be no need for governments in the region to borrow to finance infrastructure and development projects,” he said.

BY KINGSLEY ASARE AND ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI