Botswana president hails great achievement in anti-corruption fight

GABORONE, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama has commended the country's accomplishments in the fight against corruption.

Speaking on Monday in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, Khama said the attainments include high prosecution rates and continuous anti-corruption awareness and prevention programs.

He said Botswana has made great strides in combating corruption, which has resulted in international agency rating the country among the least corrupt nations in the world.

The president said the establishment of oversight institutions had contributed greatly to the attainments made in the fight against corruption.

According to Khama, bribery continued to be the most common corruption offence in Botswana, but over the years, the trend has been shifting towards more complicated and complex offences.

"In recent times, corruption hotspots include illicit land dealings, procurement of supplies with collusion between officers and bidders, the education sector where tertiary institutions received tuition for students who were no longer enrolled, deceased or purported to have failed, and of course there are concerns over fraudulent acquisition of drivers licenses," he said.

Jacinta Barrins, resident representative for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Botswana, said during the event that huge amounts of money were paid on bribery every year.

She noted that corruption has negative impact on provision of social services, socio-economic development and creation of employment around the world. Enditem