Stakeholders have advocated the immediate establishment of International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) to end the era of corrupt practices and impunity, especially in African region where poverty is glaringly ravaging the Citizens due to mismanagement of public resources and maladministration by Politically Exposed Persons.

The call is contained in a communiqué issued by participants at the end of a hybrid Conference held in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, organized by Human & Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre), in partnership with Integrity Initiatives International (III) and with the Support of MacArthur Foundation.

The stakeholders, in the communiqué signed by the Chairman of HEDA and Head of Integrity Initiatives International, Olanrewaju Suraju and Ian Lynch, respectively, likened the level of corrupt practices in the world, but particularly in Africa, as a suppurating sore, unfortunately.

The stakeholders, drawn from different sectors and disciplines, as well as from national and international bodies, observed with dismay, that the establishment of the IACC was long overdue, given that perpetrators of corruption have continued to get smarter and more powerful, wriggling out of national laws most of the times.

The participants explained that their call for establishment of IACC was predicated on the fact that corruption, in Africa, remains the biggest impediment to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and other development goals with huge financing gaps and negatively impacts human development, quality of life and standard of living by reducing public spending on the people and wasting limited resources.

They equally adduced the reason that when compared to the annual loss of the international community to corruption in terms of illicit wealth and assets, institutionalising the IACC should be cost effective.

They also observed that the African Union has a robust framework for tackling corruption, yet, the legal frameworks have made little or no improvements in national governments tackling of corruption.

They said: “Despite robust provision to cooperate with one another and provide mutual legal assistance to prevent money laundering, African governments have been unable to stop illicit transfer of funds nor improve the tracking, monitoring and prosecution of illicit transfer and movement of funds.

“The civic space in Africa is continuously shrinking with the major reason being that Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) always want to get away with their corrupt practices using state and non-state actors.”

According to them, one of the key gaps in the existing anti-corruption frameworks in Africa was that they focus less on corruption perpetrated by Multinational Corporations (MNCs) such as the International Oil Companies (IOCs), as well as international banks.

They affirmed thus; “Corruption is connected to terrorism, environmental crime with negative implications for local and international efforts to fight climate change and other global ecological crisis which now require very large new investments of public funds at global levels, regional levels, all across the world.

“Corruption is harmful to the rule of law with the tragic irony being that in highly corrupt countries like Nigeria, it is the very institutions that are supposed to enforce the law and apply justice that are among the worst perpetrators of corruption, thus emphasising the need for an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC).”

As a way of expediting action to see this proposed court come true, the stakeholders came up with salient recommendations saying: “To address the challenges of implementation facing anti-corruption laws and frameworks across developed and developing nations, countries across the globe should support the establishment of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) to fill the huge gap in the global institutional or international framework for enhancing integrity, reducing kleptocratic behaviour and ending impunity.

“For Africa to be able to effectively combat corruption, State parties should show more political will towards implementing the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC).

“While the IACC will be very different from the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as other international courts or similar institutions, it must learn actively from the ICC as well as other international courts, ad-hoc tribunals or individuals who have worked in similar institutions to ensure a robust institution,”

Similarly, to ensure that the IACC prudently delivers on its mandate and objectives, it was suggested that stakeholders should pay a great deal of attention to how its operational structure is instituted, its funding model, degree of independence, jurisdiction, relationship with national jurisdictions and its capacity to adapt to emerging challenges, among other key issues.

More so, for the IACC to function effectively, State institutions and international bodies who are supporting its establishment should also be willing to support it in implementing the decisions of the Court, the communiqué added.

The groups stressed that in fashioning out a robust IACC, efforts should be channeled towards ensuring that the Court is able to prosecute former or sitting members of state, while attention should be paid to ensuring that the court is able to rid itself of corruption and also address the involvement of international and local institutions and corporations in corruption.

“To sustain commitments to the establishment of IACC, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) must synergise and create sustained pressure on States and international actors. While present and erstwhile Heads of States, Chief Justices and key state actors should ensure they sign the declaration for the IACC, if indeed they are committed to fighting corruption. Campaigners for the IACC should be mindful of the local contexts and international politics involved as no international institution can be established, or if established, succeed, without adequate political will and fertile political environment,” they stressed.

They averred that supporting the creation of IACC is good politics, therefore, political actors should provide adequate support for the IACC as this, in turn, helps them to gain support in the civil society and build legitimacy among the electorate.

“Stakeholders should pay more attention to ensuring that the IACC actually help to prosecute genuine cases of grand corruption, rather than worry about the personality or origin of the persons being prosecuted,” the communiqué read in part.

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