Assessing the Effectiveness of Recovering Unexplained Wealth in Combating Corruption in the Public Sector: a Focused Comparison of Select Countries in Africa and Europe

Abstract

The diversion of public resources by public officers for personal gain continues to deny or vary the quantity and quality of goods and services intended for public good. Officials in public institutions have collaborated with their colleagues and private entities in committing acts of corruption. As a result of corruption, people whose incomes are well known end up amassing wealth whose sources they cannot account for. To combat corruption in the public sector, countries have come up with various legal and policy regimes such as the confiscation of unexplained wealth in an effort at fighting the vice, yielding varied results across the world. This study sought to assess the efficiency of recovering unexplained wealth in combating corruption in the public sector by comparing countries in Europe and Africa. The study specifically endeavoured to establish the theoretical, legal and policy background in respect of recovery of unexplained wealth by comparing and contrasting the experiences of the sampled states as well as examining the effectiveness of the recovery efforts in the participating countries. To achieve this, a descriptive study design and the rational choice theory were used to anchor the study. Additionally, a mix or primary and secondary data was used in the research, where the primary data was obtained from a sample of 61 respondents using questionnaires and interview schedules. The emerging quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics while the content of the qualitative data was analysed to generate the output. The data was presented using tables, charts and verbatim quotes. In terms of the theoretical, legal and policy backgrounds of the study, it was established that all the participating countries had robust legal and policy frameworks that had evolved over time and which they were using to recover unexplained wealth held by public servants, either through criminal or civil proceedings. The concept of recovery of unexplained wealth was found to be in existence in the UK, Lithuania, Nigeria and Kenya, although its incorporation into the anticorruption legal regimes was fairly recent. Instructively, all four countries had specialized agencies that were charged with the responsibility of investigating and tracking wealth held by serving or former public servants which was beyond their declared incomes while they held office. The study further established that corruption was a matter of choice where individuals weighted the cost benefit implications prior to engaging in it. In countries like the UK and Lithuania where law enforcement and investigative capacity was robust, the cases of corruption were found to be on the decline compared to Nigeria where there was limited investigative capacity and unfavourable laws that appeared to shield public officers from corruption investigations while in office. The dynamics in Kenya were complicated by the existence of many actors wherein the investigator was not the prosecutor and holders of unexplained wealth used their legit wealth and that of their proxies to delay recovery of the unexplained wealth through litigations. In terms of effectiveness the civil approach was found to be more effective than the criminal approach to the recovery of unexplained wealth. The data demonstrated an increase in the volume of unexplained wealth recovered via the civil negotiations over a relatively shorter period of time compared to the litigation process. The study identified duplication of roles, under resourcing and the inadequacy of the relevant capacity to drive the recovery of unexplained wealth as key challenges the institutions leading the fight against corruption must contend with, especially in Kenya and Nigeria. This study recommends the collapse of the many institutions into one that is well resourced and empowered by the law to investigate and prosecute corruption cases to speed up the processes. The special courts for trying corruption should also be well resourced and dedicated for that purpose to aid the anti-corruption efforts.