Abstract
The Ethiopian FEACC is a dedicated anti-corruption agency, invested with expansive powers to combat corruption in the country. It was established in 2001 in the context of the accelerated internationalisation of anti-corruption law. The mandate of the FEACC is wide, spanning the prevention, investigation and prosecution of all forms of corruption in Ethiopia. This article seeks to evaluate critically the performance of the FEACC in the execution of its mandate during the first decade of its existence. To this end it situates the creation and design of the FEACC within the global context of anti-corruption agencies, and seeks to assess its performance against generally accepted criteria, such as independence and accountability. The article seeks also to identify legal, political and institutional impediments to the success of the FEACC and proposes possible routes to overcoming such impediments. The FEACC’s first decade has been a mixed one, with some notable successes offset against a number of inadequacies in need of significant and urgent attention.
Highlights
Ethiopia’s specialised anti-corruption agency (ACA) figures prominently in the contemporary anti-corruption tableau.1 It has usefully been defined as:“a separate, permanent government agency whose primary function is to 1|PageLAW, DEMOCRACY & DEVELOPMENT / VOL 15 (2011)provide centralized leadership in core areas of anticorruption activity”.2There seems to be general agreement that a centralised, coherent and co-ordinated anticorruption regime is superior in all aspects to a diffuse and dislocated modus operandi
In 2001 Ethiopia joined the international trend by establishing an ACA in the form of the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC)
Its establishment was motivated by the belief that “corruption and impropriety are capable of hindering the social, economic and political development” of the country,6 and that the FEACC was necessary to address the threat posed to Ethiopian development by such corruption and impropriety
Summary
Ethiopia’s specialised anti-corruption agency (ACA) figures prominently in the contemporary anti-corruption tableau. It has usefully been defined as:. Ethiopia’s specialised anti-corruption agency (ACA) figures prominently in the contemporary anti-corruption tableau.. In 2001 Ethiopia joined the international trend by establishing an ACA in the form of the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC).. Its establishment was motivated by the belief that “corruption and impropriety are capable of hindering the social, economic and political development” of the country, and that the FEACC was necessary to address the threat posed to Ethiopian development by such corruption and impropriety. This article represents an attempt to comprehend the FEACC in the context of the globalisation of anti-corruption legal discourse, and to analyse its efficacy in the Ethiopian socio-economic and political milieu, in the hope of identifying those aspects of its operations which may be in need of improvement or development
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