In the media

Following last month’s report by Transparency International, which ranked Rwanda as the fourth least corrupt country in Africa, The New Times spoke to the country’s Chief Ombudsman to make sense of current efforts against corruption. She says Rwanda can do more to fight corruption, starting by educating those who are still young by including values of integrity on the curriculum for primary schools. Teaching the right values to young people is key in fighting against corruption and it is in line with the country’s anti-graft policy.

A warning by German anti-corruption organisation Transparency International that links between higher education and business are becoming increasingly obscure has sparked an open debate. "We are observing corporate interests increasingly dominating teaching and research to a large extent,” said Director of Transparency International Germany.

The National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF), in a bid to combat corruption, has raised the importance of whistle blowing as part of the school curricula to create awareness amongst learners and teachers.

Sierra Leonean civil society activists are working to improve accountability. The National Accountability Group (NAG) – the local chapter of Transparency International – used a Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) to find out what had happened to school fee subsidies and learning materials designated for a sample of 28 schools in a rural district. NAG's survey came after an earlier Ministry of Finance PETS revealed startling figures about education corruption. In 2002 researchers found that 45.1 percent of the funds for school fees subsidies were unaccounted for and that nearly 28 percent of teaching and learning materials had disappeared.

TI office in B&H has started a new anti-corruption project. The pilot-stage will be implemented in the area of Banja Luka by October 2005. The project activities include a printing of a text-book to be used in school classes and enable the students and their professors discuss the corruption, lectures on ethics and an opinion poll of the professors and students' views on corruption.