Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia - Ethiomedia

Corruption in the Telecommunications Sector in Ethiopia: A Preliminary Overview 371
º any enforcement action taken by the ETC against any designers, suppliers,
and contractors;
º any enforcement action taken by the authorities for corruption
against any designers, suppliers, and contractors;
º the outcome of such enforcement action;
º compensation paid to land occupiers in relation to the construction
or erection of telecommunications facilities;
º details of conflicts of interests declared; and
º relevant asset declarations.
There should be very limited exceptions to full disclosure in relation
to technical data that are genuinely confidential to the designer, supplier,
and contractor. Disclosure of tenders should not be made until the contract
in relation to those tenders has been awarded.
Establish a range of cost-efficient, easily accessible methods of disclosure.
Disclosure should be made as soon as possible (within a specified
number of days) after the ETC produces or receives the relevant
documents. Subject to appropriate consent agreements being in
place, disclosure should be of all future contracts placed by the ETC.
The ETC should make the public aware of the methods of disclosure
and how and where further information can be viewed. Disclosure
can be both on the Internet and at the relevant federal, regional, or
city registry. The management of this disclosure should be relatively
simple and cheap because virtually all the above documents will be
available in electronic form, so they can readily be uploaded onto a
well-managed website.
Establish the legal framework for disclosure. The Public Procurement
Proclamation does not currently provide for this level of disclosure. In
the short term, the most effective way to provide a legal basis for
enhanced disclosure may therefore be through the ETC’s procurement
procedures. A provision requiring the designers’, suppliers’, and
contractors’ consent to full disclosure should be inserted into all new
design, supply, and construction contracts.
Recommendation 4: Strengthen internal auditing.
The internal audit function within the ETC does not appear to have sufficient
resources, expertise, or authority to be able to act as effectively as
is necessary. Random checks by internal auditors for compliance with
procedures and contract provisions, compliance with specification and