By Moses Magadza

The Kingdom of Eswatini has intensified efforts to domesticate the SADC Protocol Against Corruption, with Parliament, the Anti-Corruption Commission and other key national institutions convening a two-day engagement aimed at identifying legal, policy and institutional reforms needed to give the regional instrument full effect in the country.

The National Engagement on the Domestication of the SADC Protocol Against Corruption, which opened at Bethel Court in Ezulwini on Wednesday, is expected to assess how far Eswatini’s existing laws and institutions align with the Protocol, identify remaining gaps and develop a practical roadmap for implementation.

The engagement is being co-hosted by the Parliament of the Kingdom of Eswatini and the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF), with support from GIZ, International Partnerships Austria, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union.

Opening the meeting, Speaker of the House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Jabulani Clement Mabuza said the process represented an opportunity to move beyond regional commitment and examine what still needed to be done nationally to strengthen the fight against corruption.

“We are gathered not merely to discuss corruption as an abstract governance challenge, but to consider the practical measures required to strengthen our national response to it,” Speaker Mabuza said.

He added, “This workshop provides an opportunity to examine our laws, institutions and practices against the obligations and standards established under the SADC Protocol Against Corruption.”

He said the engagement came at a critical moment, following a call by His Majesty King Mswati III for the country to intensify the fight against corruption.

“His Majesty King Mswati III has made a clarion call for the nation to bring corruption to an end,” Speaker Mabuza said, adding, “We must all rise to the occasion and translate that call into deliberate, coordinated and measurable action.”

The SADC Protocol Against Corruption was adopted in 2001 to promote common regional standards for preventing, detecting and punishing corruption and strengthening cooperation among Member States.

The Speaker noted that Eswatini had taken an important legislative step five years later through the Prevention of Corruption Act of 2006, which established a framework for preventing, investigating and punishing corrupt conduct.

However, he said enactment of national legislation and ratification of regional instruments were only foundations and did not by themselves amount to complete domestication.

“Ratification of a regional instrument and the enactment of national legislation are important foundations, but they are not the end of the process,” he said.

He contended, “The principles of the Protocol must be fully translated into effective national laws, properly resourced institutions and consistent administrative practices.”

The Speaker said domestication was essential because it closed the gap between what countries had agreed to at the regional level and what their institutions were empowered and required to implement.

He called on participants to identify provisions of the Protocol already adequately reflected in Eswatini’s laws, areas where legislation remained incomplete and institutional or operational barriers to effective implementation.

Attention, he said, should be given to prevention, public-sector integrity, transparent procurement, whistleblower and witness protection, investigation and prosecution, asset recovery, access to information and cooperation among national and regional institutions.

Speaker Mabuza stressed that Parliament had a central responsibility in the domestication process through its legislative, oversight and representative functions.

“Parliament occupies a central place in this process,” he said.

Its legislative role, he said, required it to ensure that national laws adequately criminalised corrupt conduct, protected public resources, promoted transparency and supported recovery of unlawfully acquired assets.

He, however, warned that legislation alone would not be enough.

“Parliament must exercise continuous oversight over the implementation of the law, the management of public resources and the performance of institutions entrusted with promoting integrity and accountability,” he stated.

The Speaker called for the engagement to conclude with a concrete roadmap rather than broad declarations.

“The outcome of this engagement must extend beyond general declarations of commitment,” he said.

He said the roadmap should identify outstanding legislative, policy and institutional measures, specify responsible institutions, set realistic timelines and establish mechanisms for monitoring and reporting progress.

Mr Maphevu Mkhatshwa, the Anti-Corruption Commission Acting Commissioner, welcomed the domestication initiative. He described it as an important opportunity to align Eswatini’s national anti-corruption framework more closely with regional standards.

“We believe that this process is crucial for aligning our national efforts with regional standards and for fostering a culture of integrity across all sectors of our society,” he said in opening remarks.

Mr Mkhatshwa said the process would allow stakeholders to assess existing laws, policies and institutions against the provisions of the Protocol, identify gaps and share good practices.

He also highlighted the recent approval by Government of the National Anti-Corruption Policy as a significant national development.

“This policy promotes a multisectoral approach, emphasising the importance of collaboration across the three arms of government, traditional authorities, the private sector, civil society and citizens,” he said.

The ACC pledged to support measures emerging from the engagement that would institutionalise integrity and strengthen ethical conduct across governance structures.

SADC PF Secretary General Ms Boemo M. Sekgoma, in remarks delivered on her behalf by the Forum’s Director of Parliamentary Business and Programmes, Mr Sheuneni Kurasha, said domestication was the point at which regional commitments acquired practical national meaning.

“A regional Protocol cannot, on its own, protect whistleblowers, strengthen procurement systems, recover stolen assets, compel accountability for public expenditure, or finance an oversight institution,” Sekgoma said.

“These outcomes are achieved through national laws, national institutions, national budgets and national accountability mechanisms. That is what domestication is ultimately about,” the SG said.

She described Parliament as “the bridge between regional commitments and national implementation”, warning that regional integration risked remaining an agreement on paper unless regional instruments were translated into national action.

Ms Sekgoma said SADC PF had placed domestication of SADC Protocols and other regional instruments at the centre of its work and had taken a policy decision to intensify such efforts across Member States over the next two years.

“The true measure of regional integration is not the number of Protocols we sign, but how effectively those Protocols improve our citizens’ lives,” she said.

Ms Sekgoma also stressed that corruption was fundamentally a parliamentary issue because Parliament legislates, approves budgets, scrutinises public expenditure and procurement, receives reports from accountability institutions and represents citizens affected when public resources are misused.

“That is why Parliament cannot be a spectator in the fight against corruption,” she said.

The two-day engagement brings together parliamentarians and representatives of the ACC, Judiciary, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Royal Eswatini Police Service, Auditor General, government ministries, civil society, academia, media and private sector, as well as officials from the SADC Secretariat and SADC PF.

Participants are expected to assess Eswatini’s implementation of the Protocol, document progress and good practices, identify gaps and agree on priority actions, responsibilities and timelines.

Ms Sekgoma said the desired outcome was unmistakable.

“The fight against corruption will not be won by declarations alone,” she said, adding, “It will be won when regional commitments translate into national action, public resources are effectively scrutinised, wrongdoing is punished, and citizens can trust that public resources serve their intended purpose.”

-Moses Magadza is the Media and Communications Manager at the SADC Parliamentary Forum.