KUALA LUMPUR (Pacnews) — Corruption undermines democracy, development and good governance in the Commonwealth, according to its Secretary-General Don McKinnon.
He has called for a culture of integrity and accountability through leadership in good governance.
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states all of which are former colonies of the United Kingdom, except for Mozambique and the United Kingdom itself.
McKinnon told a conference organized by the Malaysian Institute of Integrity in Kuala Lumpur that corruption could destroy development efforts, add to the cost of living and doing business, as well as erode competitiveness and investor confidence.
“Corruption distorts competition and investment; it’s an impediment to free and fair trade,” McKinnon stated.
“It undermines the democratic and moral standards which underpin the way in which we conduct our lives,” he added.
McKinnon said every year an estimated $400 billion is lost worldwide in government procurement, undermining the potential effects of a government’s capital spending as money is taken out of poor peoples’ lives and into rich peoples’ pockets.
He said Commonwealth countries had reported countless bribes over access to public utilities such as water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, drainage, access roads, highways and paving. The ill effects of corruption, he stressed, were felt the most by the poorest in our societies.
“Anti-corruption strategies need to be coordinated, multi-faceted, targeted and supported by demonstrable political will,” emphasized McKinnon.
He noted the establishment of Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Agency and the National Integrity Plan to combat corruption through prevention and education. He said these initiatives supported the U.N. Convention against Corruption.
Out of 140 countries which had signed UNCAC since its launch in 2003, he noted that only 91 have ratified the convention, including 16 Commonwealth states.
McKinnon said the Secretariat will run a program on customs integrity for the Asia-Pacific region in May in Kuala Lumpur.
He commended the Malaysian government for achievements made since the launch of the National Integrity Plan in 2004 and encouraged the government to do more to realize its targets by 2008.
The secretary-general was in Malaysia as part of his official visit to Southeast Asia.