On this Tuesday 30^th April 2024, in Addis Ababa, the General Assembly of the Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies in the East African Community (EAAACA) started. It is an organization led by Rwanda since 2022. This organization also has  (ARNEA) a group of experts responsible for tracking and recovering assets from corruption and related crimes.

Today, the work of this meeting was opened by Hon. Nirere Madeleine, the head of EAAACA, and the Chief of the Ombudsman of Rwanda, in her speech she emphasized that fighting against corruption is a journey that requires cooperation and that the return of wealth from corruption and its derivatives is very important, especially in Africa so that the people can reach a better life, education, healthcare...

Hon.NIRERE Madeleine Head of EAAACA delivering her speech in the meeting (Addis Ababa)

“In the Eastern Africa Region, corruption practices exist in public and private sectors. Corruption creates and increases poverty and exclusion. It deprives millions of Africans of their basic needs like food, health, housing, clean water, and sanitation.”

“To curb the proliferation of corruption practices among our respective countries, let us put our efforts together in a timely act when we come across any Asset tracing cases by using this network which is its primary mission of promoting the sharing of information for the effectiveness of members’ efforts leading to the recovery of proceeds of crime and to establish itself as the center of expertise in tracing/tackling the proceeds of crime.” She added

The 15^th General Assembly of the Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies in the East African Community theme is “COORDINATION, COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION IN ASSET RECOVERY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION”.

The East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities was formed on 28th September 2007 in Kampala, Uganda when heads of Kenya Anti-corruption Commission of Kenya (now Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission), prevention and combating of Corruption Bureau of the United Republic of Tanzania and Inspectorate of Government of Uganda, signed the Kampala Declaration of East African Association of Anti-corruption Authorities (EAAACA). The Association was therefore launched in Nairobi, Kenya on 9th November 2007 when the EAAACA constitution was signed.

ARIN-EA stands for Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for Eastern Africa. ARIN-EA is an informal network that aims at the informal exchange of information on individuals, assets, and companies, at the regional and international level to facilitate the effective tracing and recovery of proceeds of crime and deprive criminals of their illicit gains.

This Association has a mission of promoting the spirit of zero tolerance against corruption and encouraging regional cooperation in preventing and combating corruption.