Human rights experts from Francophone African countries are meeting in Yaounde.

“Corruption has to be made non-friendly and its fallout shouldn’t benefit anyone.” These were the words of Adolphe Lawson, Executive Director of the Consultative Council of the African Union on Corruption. 

He re-echoed these words yesterday August 20, 2013 in Yaounde at the opening of a three-day workshop on corruption and human rights organised by the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (RINADH). Other speakers joined the Executive Director of RINADH, Gilbert Sebihogo, to salute the initiative and castigate the negative effects corruption has on the wellbeing of the public. To them, “All corrupt acts directly or indirectly impact society and are obstacles to the protection and promotion of the rights of man.”

In spite of measures put in place at the regional and national levels to eradicate the scourge, the canker worm still eats deeply into society. According to the Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Chemuta Divine Banda, “Corruption affects human rights - be they social, civil, political and cultural resources that are supposed to be used to promote and protect the rights of man.” He said at the opening of the workshop that corruption leads to the misuse of resources and injustice. When attempts to seek redress fail, it scares away potential investors, especially in countries where corruption is high.

Participants from civil society organisations, government institutions from Burundi, Congo, Mali, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Chad, Togo, Tunisia and host country, Cameroon, will at the end of the three-day workshop work in synergy, share experiences and propose strategies that can help step up the war on corruption on the continent with regards to the promotion and protection of human rights.