Expert, Rose Seretse, advocates ethical culture within anti-corruption institutions.

Seretse was speaking on the sideline of the 16th Commonwealth Regional Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa.

This year’s confab, taking place in Yaounde from May 4 to 8, is taking place under the theme: “Deploying Artificial Intelligence in the fight against corruption in Commonwealth Africa”. 

Speaking during her presentation titled: ‘Building an ethical culture within an anti-corruption institution’, Seretse told participants that ethics within an anti-corruption institution is “less likely to be talked about”.

According to Seretse, this was due to the fact that there exists an assumption that anti-corruption officers “will not likely engage in corruption or in unethical behavior.”

She emphasised that while anti-corruption officers actively engage in correcting unethical behaviors of other institutions, it was imperative that they do forget about those within.

Seretse stressed that the public’s eye is always on the anti-corruption officer. According to her, the “expectations for ethical conduct of an anti-corruption agency is very high compared to other institutions”.

“Issues of ethics can make or break the organization and must therefore be taken seriously,” Seretse underscored, adding that: “It will be unfortunate for an anti-corruption institution to focus on building an ethical culture in other institutions and forget its own.

Sets roadmap, outlines benefits

Seretse hammered on the key strategies of an ethical culture within an anti-corruption institution. 

The former Director General of the Botswana Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime from 2009-2017 said that a provision should be made within an anti-corruption statute that mandates declarations of assets and liabilities by officers.

She also tasked heads of anti-corruption institutions in Africa to conduct lifestyle audits on officers. According to Seretse, this will ensure they are able to track possible living beyond means.

Seretse mentioned that the implementation of a code of ethics was also essential. This, Seretse said, is because it can cover aspects such as conflict of interest, declaration of gifts, use of company assets and issues of intimacy in the office.

Performance based reward system to reward performance appropriately, which avoids discretion and favoritism, as well as spot checks, especially on investigation files, were also brought to the fore.

Seretse detailed that the implementation of the strategies will ensure that anti-corruption institutions build an ethical culture. Through this, she added, anti-corruption agencies can reap massive benefits.

She said this can protect the integrity of the institution, build public confidence towards the institution, reduce risk of reputational damage and encourage staff commitment and retention.

Seretse’s presentation was one of the key highlights of the confab on Wednesday. There were also other presentations on the civil routes to recover State-looted assets by Sarah Gabriel and Jonathan Tickner of the Peters and Peters Solicitors LLP, London, United Kingdom, UK.

Another presentation was on corruption cleanup and political settlement in Ghana by Prof Kingsley Agormor of the School of Public Service and Governance, GIMPA.

Dr Hady Fink, advisor at Partnership for Transparency Europe Supporting Citizen Action for Better governance also presented on working with young people to deploy AI in the fight against corruption in Commonwealth Africa, while Samuel Jaegere, Head of Global Programme on Measuring Corruption at International Anti-corruption Academy, Austria, did a presentation on measuring anti-corruption agency effectiveness and the use of technology. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3783 of Friday May 08, 2026