Implementation of the anti-corruption law
Continue the implementation of the anti-corruption law in relation to the ASCE-LC: in the short term, this involves implementing the decrees relating to (i) the appointment of members of the ASCE-LC Advisory Board, (ii) statutes governing state controllers, verification assistants and (iii) appointment of heads of departments and service directors.
Completion Status:
Commitment filtering:
In 2015, Burkina Faso adopted a stand-alone anti-corruption law establishing the Autorité Supérieure de Contrôle d’Etat et de Lutte contre la Corruption (Higher Authority for Control of the State and the Fight against Corruption, ASCE-LC)[1] as the national anti-corruption body, with new provisions regarding the management of asset declarations.[2] The commitment is specific because it identifies the ASCE-LC and its capacity for managing asset declarations as a concrete anti-corruption mechanism.
[1] Autorité Supérieure de Contrôle d’Etat et de Lutte contre la Corruption (Higher Authority for Control of the State and the Fight against Corruption) – Burkina Faso’s national anti-corruption body. The ASCE-LC is the successor of the Autorité Supérieure de Contrôle d’Etat (Higher State Control Authority, ASCE). From 2007 to 2014, the ASCE operated based on legal provisions with shortcomings and deviations compared to international standards governing anti-corruption institutions. For example, the Jakarta Principles, which state that anti-corruption institutions must have clear mandates to fight corruption through prevention, education, awareness-raising, investigation and prosecution, either through a single body or several coordinated bodies. See: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre and Transparency International, Burkina Faso: Overview of Corruption and Anti-Corruption, 3 November 2019, https://www.u4.no/publications/burkina-faso-overview-of-corruption-and-anti-corruption;
[2] ASCE-LC, Law 004 2015 CNT on the prevention and repression of corruption in Burkina Faso, 3 March 2015, https://www.asce-lc.bf/index.php/documentations/reglementation?task=document.viewdoc&id=9
The commitment is measurable because it identifies three actions for implementing the decrees (as part of implementing the anti-corruption law from 2015) relating to the ASCE-LC mission:
- The appointment of members of the ASCE-LC Advisory Board. The Council of Ministers had already appointed the Advisory Board members in July 2018, before the government made the commitment at the IACC in October 2018. Therefore, this part of the commitment will not be monitored.[1]
- The implementation of statutes governing state controllers and verification assistants.
- The appointment of the ASCE-LC heads of departments and service directors.
[1] Le Faso.net, Good governance in Burkina: the nine members of the ASCE-LC Orientation Council have been sworn in, 11 July 2018, http://lefaso.net/spip.php?article84434
Burkina Faso
Evaluation:
Background information
In 2015, Burkina Faso adopted a stand-alone anti-corruption law establishing the
ASCE-LC as its national anti-corruption body, with new provisions regarding the management of asset declarations.[1] Still in 2022, the anti-corruption law is not fully implemented. At the IACC 2018 Burkina Faso made a commitment to implement three decrees in relation to the role of the ASCE-LC as outlined in the anti-corruption law.
Monitoring
The commitment identifies three actions, two of which were eligible for monitoring:
- The appointment of members of the ASCE-LC Advisory Board.
The Council of Ministers had already appointed the Advisory Board members in July 2018, before the government made the commitment at the IACC in October 2018. Therefore, this part of the commitment will not be monitored.[2]
- The adoption of decrees on state controllers, investigators and audit assistants
Under the anti-corruption law adopted in 2015, regulations governing state controllers, investigators and audit assistants should have been implemented by 2017.[3] However, the government only adopted the decree on the legal regime applicable to the state controllers, verification assistants and ASCE-LC investigators in 2021.[4]
- Appointment of heads of departments and service directors
The Council of Ministers appointed the heads of departments in May 2022[5] and the service directors by decree in June 2022.[6]
Therefore, this commitment is considered fulfilled.
| Recommendations |
| Further continue and finalise the implementation of the anti-corruption law in relation to the ASCE-LC with the adoption of two outstanding implementation decrees (the decree regulating the ASCE-LC intervention fund and the decree on the quantum of assets) to provide the anti-corruption agency with more operational and financial autonomy.[7] |
[1] ASCE-LC, Law 004 2015 CNT on the prevention and repression of corruption in Burkina Faso, 3 March 2015, https://www.asce-lc.bf/index.php/documentations/reglementation?task=document.viewdoc&id=9
[2] Le Faso.net, Good governance in Burkina: the nine members of the ASCE-LC Orientation Council have been sworn in, 11 July 2018, http://lefaso.net/spip.php?article84434
[3] Ouaga.com, Fight against corruption in Burkina Faso: ASCE-LC wants the suspension of the director of cabinet of President Kaboré and the deputy director general of Customs, 12 January 2022, http://news.aouaga.com/h/138888.html
[4] Bendre, Burkina Faso : Enfin un décret sur le régime juridique des contrôleurs d’Etat, May 2021, https://www.bendre.bf/burkina-faso-enfin-un-decret-sur-le-regime-juridique-des-controleurs-detat/
[5] Burkina Faso Government Information Service, Minutes of the Council of Ministers of Friday, May 06, 2022, 10 May 2022, https://www.sig.bf/2022/05/compte-rendu-du-conseil-des-ministres-du-vendredi-06-mai-2022/
[6] Annex 3.
[7] Ouaga.com, Fight against corruption in Burkina Faso: ASCE-LC wants the suspension of the director of cabinet of President Kaboré and the deputy director general of Customs, 12 January 2022, http://news.aouaga.com/h/138888.html