Batidam chides AU Commission for cover-up as he resigns

Anti-corruption campaigner and Ghana’s representative on the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption Daniel Batidam has accused the African Union Commission of covering up malpractices within the advisory board. His comments come on the back of his resignation from the Board. According to Daniel Batidam, who was speaking on TV3‘s Midday Live on Wednesday, the AU Commission has failed to protect the integrity of its Advisory Board on Corruption. “The sad thing is that it appears that there are people in Addis Ababa at the Commission who are ready to cover up these malpractices.” He noted that it is very crucial for the AU Advisory Board on Corruption to ensure that the credibility of the board is protected. “It is good to have an advisory board but we need to have the independence and credibility to be able to do our work.” Daniel Batidam stated that he had raised issues regarding corruption and lack of accountability, among other things, in the past while he was the Chairperson of the board but the AU Commission failed to deal with the issues raised. “The Commission set [up] an investigation but as I speak to you today, we do not have any report. In March 2018, just three months ago, the board had to send another petition which has still not been resolved,” Daniel Batidam said. He added that the Advisory Board will not create an environment which undermines the very values and principles that guide its work. In his resignation letter dated June 8, Daniel Batidam stated that he took the decision to resign as a result of countless acts of corruption in the past three years. “After witnessing several instances and degrees of bad governance including the abuse of entrusted power (or corruption), lack of probity, accountability, transparency and integrity at the Secretariat of the AUABC and some Departments of the AU Commission itself for over a period of three years now, while efforts at seeking redress have yielded no results, I have decided on grounds of principle that enough is enough.” Daniel Batidam expressed disappointment over the swift response from the Commission when he tendered in his resignation. “It took less than one week for the African Union Commission to respond to my resignation and we have been complaining about issues for years, they are not addressing them.” He emphasized the need for African heads of state to fight the abuse and misuse of scarce resources available to the continent. By Irene Amesimeku| editors.3news.com|Ghana Follow @3Newsgh