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366 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
Departmental Responsibilities
In addition to the above procedural safeguards, the ETC has the following
departments, which, if operating properly and effectively, should act as a
check that the safeguards are being followed:
• A procurement department, which manages the procurement phase
• A project department, which takes over responsibility on award of
contract
• A finance department, which is responsible for financial management
and control
• An internal audit department, which undertakes random financial and
performance audits
• A legal department, which handles legal negotiations and documentation
• An ethics department, which provides ethical training and guidance to
staff, operates the internal ethics reporting line, investigates potential
corruption, and reports any suspected cases to the FEACC.
An audit of these functions falls beyond the scope of this study.
However, it does appear that in most cases the theoretical controls are
generally reasonably well written and comprehensive. Where scope exists
for some areas to be enhanced, appropriate recommendations are made
in the next section. Even as they stand, however, these procedures would,
if followed, greatly reduce the risk of corruption.
Practical Implementation of the ETC’s Safeguards
against Corruption
Even if procedures are comprehensive, they can be bypassed, which can
result from an official mandate from an influential person to ignore the
procedures, collusion between senior officials responsible for implementing
the procedures, or negligence or inefficiency. As described
above, strong indications arose from interviews and document analysis
that the ETC has, in some cases, not followed its own procedures. The
fundamental problem appears to lie not in the lack of adequate procedures
but in a failure to effectively follow these procedures.
Two other factors affecting anticorruption controls have been highlighted
by this chapter:
• First, to be effective, anticorruption endeavors require oversight that
enjoys a widespread degree of trust and confidence. Few stakeholders