NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 23 – Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Chief Executive Officer Abdi Mohamud has called on anti-corruption agencies across Eastern Africa to move beyond formal agreements and adopt practical, joint operational frameworks to combat increasingly complex cross-border corruption.
Speaking during the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAAACA) Anti-Corruption Conference and 16th Annual General Meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Mohamud said the region must transition from “boardroom consultations” to coordinated enforcement action.
“As heads of our respective institutions, we are the vanguard of integrity. I urge us to move beyond the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), boardroom consultations and toward the implementation of practical, joint operational frameworks,” said Mohamud, who also serves as Vice President of EAAACA.
The conference brought together anti-corruption chiefs, policymakers, and development partners from across Eastern Africa, with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu among high-level attendees.
Mohamud warned that corruption has evolved into a sophisticated transnational enterprise driven by illicit financial flows, shell companies, and digital systems that allow proceeds of crime to move rapidly across jurisdictions.
“Corruption is no longer a localized, petty offense confined within national boundaries. It has become a sophisticated, transnational enterprise,” he said.
He emphasized that no single country or agency can tackle the vice in isolation, urging deeper regional cooperation anchored on real-time intelligence sharing, streamlined mutual legal assistance, and coordinated asset recovery efforts.
“When stolen assets are moved across borders, the pursuit of justice must be equally mobile and twice as fast,” he noted.
Mohamud called for the establishment of robust mechanisms to enable the swift exchange of actionable intelligence, harmonization of legal processes, and faster execution of cross-border requests, including freezing illicit assets and securing witness cooperation.
He further urged agencies to undertake joint investigations and invest in shared capacity-building programmes to align investigative and prosecutorial standards across the region.
“When we speak in one voice and act in one accord, we send a clear message to the cartels of corruption: the region is closed for business,” he said.
The EACC boss said such collaboration would enhance the tracing, recovery, and repatriation of stolen assets, ensuring they are redirected to public use, including funding for critical services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
Mohamud also reiterated the region’s commitment to international frameworks, including the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC).