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INSIDE AFRICA

International Day Against Corruption

Aired December 8, 2007 - 12:30:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FEMI OKE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Femi Oke, and you're watching INSIDE AFRICA, your weekly look at life and issues on the continent.
This week, we mark the International Day Against Corruption, with a look at the toll corruption takes on ordinary Africans.

Award-winning filmmaker Sorious Samura says it's the number one problem holding Africa back. And he sets out to prove it in his latest documentary, which is called "Living with Corruption."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SORIOUS SAMURA, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: This is a dirty experience. All together, (inaudible) just to be allowed to build a shack in one of Africa's most notorious slums.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKE: Much more from Sorious Samura in just a moment. We'll also hear from some of the people on the frontlines in Africa's fight against corruption.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you fight corruption, it fights back, and it can at times be lethal. But then, you have no alternative, it has to be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKE: We begin at the bottom of the corruption pyramid, where voiceless victims suffer in squalor. For his new film, "Living with Corruption," Sorious Samura went to live in a Kabira (ph) slum in Nairobi, Kenya. It's here that people with almost nothing must routinely give out bribes just to subsist in relative peace. In typical Samura style, he put himself in a position to feel their pain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SORIOUS SAMURA, JOURNALIST: This sound that we're hearing from beneath my feet is actually coming from the used carry-on bags that filled with fresh (expletive deleted) has been thrown here from all over the place. It's actually this form of toilet that people here use. In fact, they call it the flying toilet.

As for the smell, I'm going to spare you that.

You know, if one has to really understand corruption, you have to go and live with the people who are paying the price of corruption, you know, the ordinary voiceless people, the innocent people. These are the people that I represent. If I knew that if I wanted to understand it, I have to live exactly like them and tell you from bottom up. So it was easy to make that decision.

Wouldn't that be called corruption, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no land. There is no land which is not mine.

(CROSSTALK)

SAMURA: Wouldn't that be corruption, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is lying. He's lying, and I'm not going to...

(CROSSTALK)

OKE: There's a big instance in the film, I'm thinking, OK, someone is going to stomp Sorious. So I'm just thinking how far did you go in terms of trying to get your story and how many threats did you receive while you were trying to do it?

SAMURA: My aim was to -- to challenge these authorities. Because, you know, you find people who behave like that MP in Sierra Leone, in Liberia, in Guinea, in the DRC, Congo, and all of other place.

So, you know, it's time that, you know, we make this sort of films, even though they're risky because he did threaten that I don't know Kenya, and I think as an African, I know exactly what that meant, you know.

But the truth is, we have to start educating ordinary Africans to know that they need to feel empowered to start challenging these authorities, to teach them to understand that they're only sovereigns of the states, they're not the bosses, they're not the big man.

So that's why I was determined to see, you know, it's going to be risky, it's going to be stupid. But you know what? Speak truth to African power. That's the only way we can start turning the continent around, Femi.

I visited the disgraced former head of the National AIDS Control Council, Margaret Bachara (ph), in her beautiful mansion.

(on camera): Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

SAMURA: How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very fine, thank you.

SAMURA: She was convicted and imprisoned for one year for abuse of office.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

OKE: A head of department who's been convicted of corruption, she served time, she's being pardoned. Yet she puts the fingers up the air and in inverted quotes (ph), says, "corruption." As if maybe it's not a big deal. Did you get the feeling from your documentary and talking to the people that it was just a part of everyday life, that people weren't even seeing it as corruption?

SAMURA: A lot of people in Africa now believe that it's OK, because this is the way that most people look after their people, and that's why I think we have to think of a way of educating the masses in Africa, to understand that it's our God-given right, you know, to bring our people, our politicians, our leaders to account, you know. That's the sort of education that we need. So that they can understand morally, it's wrong.

OKE: This documentary, "Living with Corruption," is part of a series. You went starving in "Living with Hunger." You also did a story about living with refugees where young girls in Guinea were being raped by U.N. staff. You also did a documentary about living with AIDS.

Are you deliberately trying to embarrass Africa with your subject matter?

SAMURA: Wow, that's a good question. Femi, I must make it clear that I am an African, and I think, you know, I don't even need to emphasize that, you know, and I don't want to grow old in the West, I want to go back home someday. So I want to see my continent respected.

But it is also true that if you want to cross (inaudible), you have to make sure that you look at both sides, otherwise you stand a chance of being knocked down by a passing car. That's the problem that we're facing.

Over the years, Africa and Africans have been looking only one way before they cross the road, which is the colonial masters. They've been playing the blame game, they've been pointing their fingers all the time to tragedies and problems that we're facing in Africa, that it's the cause of the colonial masters.

But you know what? I think it's about time that we look at it both ways. I think it's time that we look -- I believe that you can only grow by understanding, and unless Africans start looking deep in within for what is wrong with us, you know, because nobody disrespects you without your permission. The West has been showing us a little respect. China has turned up on our doorstep, showing us little respect. But it's because we've allowed ourselves to be disrespected by outsiders. That's why nobody's showing us respect.

So we have to look within, look at what is wrong, and address it. Only by knowing what is wrong, only by being (inaudible) can we move the continent forward.

OKE: It really is a fascinating subject. In fact, Sorious and I got into such a long conversation that the crew went back to the desk and we continued talking until the satellite link run out.

If you want to watch the entire documentary, though, you will see it here on CNN. It's called "Living with Corruption." This Sunday, at 20:00 GMT, and the times also listed on our TV screen. And that's right here on CNN.

Still ahead on INSIDE AFRICA, Nigeria is investigating corruption allegations against some high profile public officials. How did they get such luxurious accommodation, could it possibly be corruption? And Nigeria's also emerging as a model for fighting corruption and getting some of the stolen money back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Making business news in Africa this week. You can call it a power for power deal. Zimbabwe will receive 80 to 100 megawatts of free electricity a day from the Democratic Republic of Congo until March. In return, Zimbabwe promises to send the DRC more military forces to bolster President Joseph Kabila's security team. Zimbabwe already receives electricity from the DRC, but previously has been expected to pay for it.

And in South Africa, more than a quarter million miners staged a one-day strike over safety issues and working conditions. At least 200 miners have been killed on the job this year. In October, more than 3,000 miners were trapped a mile underground in a South African gold mine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Good to see you again. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA.

In recent years, Nigeria has emerged as a model for fighting corruption on the continent, and its Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is leading the way. Isha Sesay takes a look now at some of Nigeria's recent high- profile cases.

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ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar stands out as one of the federal officials in Nigeria to be prosecuted for corruption. He was indicted last year by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR, FORMER NIGERIAN VICE PRESIDENT: Unfortunately, the EFCC has been turning to a political tool for persecution of political opponents. If corruption is -- is done by people who support the government, they're not investigated, they're covered up.

SESAY: Abubakar and his supporters say that charges against him are politically motivated, the result of his feud with former President Olusegan Obasanjo.

Abubakar reportedly paid $3 million for his residence in Abuja. Nigerian authorities say his sprawling retreat in northern Nigeria is worth $5 million.

His assets in the United States are also under scrutiny. In 2005, FBI agents raided a house owned by one of his wives in an upscale Washington suburb. They were investigating an international telecommunications deal.

Abubakar denied any wrongdoing and explains his wealth as a result of investments, hard work and luck.

And then there is the case of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the regional governor and political ally of Abubakar. He was arrested in 2005 at Heathrow Airport, carrying more than a million pounds in cash. He was charged with money laundering and fled back to Nigeria, where his position as governor gave him immunity from prosecution. He was arrested when the Bayelsa state assembly impeached him a month later.

Last July, he pleaded guilty to six charges, including corruption. Alamieyeseigha received credit for time served, and was released a short time later.

Meanwhile, another former Nigerian governor has run afoul of the law in Britain. London police are investigating James Ibori of Delta state for alleged money laundering by British banks during 2005 and 2006. The EFCC is investigating him for corruption, diversion of public funds, abuse of office, and money laundering. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Nuhu Ribadu, who heads the EFCC, dismisses criticism his organization as politically biased.

NUHU RIBADU, CHAIRMAN OF THE EFCC: Well, that's what people will say -- when you fight corruption, it fights back. Almost all the cases, if not percent of the cases that we've taken, we've always come with strong evidence, and then we take them to the courts. We have never lost one single case yet.

SESAY: Ribadu says what he is doing is dangerous. So much so that he and his colleagues travel with bodyguards. But the EFCC chief also says there is no other choice if he's to stand up and do what's right.

Isha Sesay, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Getting even some of the stolen money back can have enormous benefits. The World Bank says every $100 million recovered can fund HIV/AIDS treatment for 600,000 people for the whole year, or immunizations for 4 million children, or water connections for about 250,000 households.

And I spoke to Stuart Gilman, who's leading the World Bank Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative. He says Nigeria has managed to recover about $3 billion in stolen assets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STUART GILMAN, U.N. GLOBAL PROG, AGAINST CORRUPTON: Nigeria basically is the model that we've followed in terms of creating the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, the StAR as it were, because Nigeria through the auspices of the former Finance Minister Ngozi, the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Nuhu Ribadu, have really led the way and really pioneered the effort in terms of getting moneys back. And with cooperation around the world, they have succeeded in literally getting billions back into the treasury of Nigeria.

OKE: Give me a scenario where perhaps moneys in a Swiss bank or moneys in a U.K. bank. How does it get back to the country that it really belongs to?

GILMAN: Well, the interesting thing is under the new U.N. Convention Against Corruption, we created a series of vehicles by which countries can claim those assets, make sure they're frozen in country -- you know with electronic banking now how easy it is to transfer funds. Well, we can freeze them in place sometimes for years to make sure that the country can make an effective claim, and we're working now not only with countries who have claims, but the recipient countries, to make sure at the end of the day that those moneys get back to their rightful owners, the citizens in those countries, who desperately need it to move not only out of poverty, but to really develop economically and politically.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: And that was Stuart Gilman, head of the United Nations global program against corruption.

Coming up on INSIDE AFRICA, former Nigerian finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, shares her outlook on the fight against corruption and offers some advice for women who might see her as a role model.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Among the world's most self-enriching leaders, according to Transparency International: Former Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko and former Nigerian President Sani Abacha, who allegedly stole $5 billion each. Former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, who allegedly stole between $5 and $10 billion, and former Indonesian President Suharto, who may have outdone them all, allegedly taking between $15 and $35 billion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

OKE: Hello again. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA. As Nigeria's finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala earned the title "Most Powerful Woman in Africa." She also earned a reputation as a tireless reformer and corruption fighter. Now she's using the lessons she learned in that role as the World Bank's managing director. Okonjo-Iweala shared her optimistic vision with our Jim Clancy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA, WORLD BANK MANAGING DIRECTOR: There is no doubt that corruption is a big, big deterrent on development. But I think the key thing about corruption on the continent is that there are improvements, that countries are beginning and people are beginning to fight, to say that we don't want -- Africa doesn't want to be defined by this word, corruption.

And I do think that some progress is being made.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You were the finance minister of Nigeria. You had $18 billion in debt or more cancelled. What do you consider to be your major achievement? Is it that?

OKONJO-IWEALA: Yes, I would say that as the finance minister, that was the highlight, and the country had to go through a program of reform switch. We did, because we needed to. We didn't just do it because we were looking for debt relief, but we needed to stabilize our finances, be more transparent in the way we handled our resources, begin to clean up our act so that we could improve service delivery to the people, something which is still, you know, we still haven't achieved.

But we did a lot of things that then helped the Paris club, that is the group of Western nations to whom Nigeria owed money, to write off $18 billion. So yes, I do consider that a highlight.

CLANCY: You're a managing director of the World Bank, and that's no small title. Why did you make the decision to go back to the World Bank?

OKONJO-IWEALA: I thought, well, this is an opportunity to take those lessons I've learned, first while I was working in the bank and then out in the outside world as finance minister, but also in the one year I worked in the private sector, put them all together and try to have a bigger impact, not only for Africa, but also since I have oversight responsibility for South Asia, use some of that experience in Europe and Central Asia.

CLANCY: Many young women in Africa, in Nigeria specifically, look to you as an example. What advice would you give them?

OKONJO-IWEALA: You know, if you want to succeed, I don't focus just on success. What I focused on was I'm going to do a job that will help me give back to people, and I am going to enjoy myself doing that job. It's very important to work very hard, find something, a vocation that enables you to give back. Because you get enormous satisfaction. And then make sure you have fun doing it. And you get your reward that way. And as you work in that way and you work very hard, I think the success will come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Okonjo-Iweala recently provided her expertise to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, acting as a judge for the first ever Achievement in African Leadership Award. And when INSIDE AFRICA continues, the man who won it offers his thoughts on corruption in Africa.

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OKE: Excellent to see you again. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA.

Mozambique's former president, Joaquim Chissano, is being recognized as a model of quality African governance. He was recently awarded the African equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize - the Mo Ibrahim Achievement in African Leadership Award. Now, it came with $5 million in prize money, part of which he says he will donate to programs to help his people. Shahira Amin caught up with him at the awards ceremony in Egypt, and he shared his thoughts on corruption and responsibility.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOAQUIM CHISSANO, FORMER PRESIDENT OF MOZAMBIQUE: Corruption is as bad as AIDS. And so we'll have to prevent that it appears, because when it's there, it becomes sometimes very difficult to cure. And so, we prevent and take measures which are first of all, organization. The strengthening of the institutions to deal with this issue. It's a necessary. It's not easy, but it's necessary because many countries do not have those, strong institutions to deal with this issue.

It's not only the leaders, but it's the whole society, because if you are in a queue, you cannot - it's like (ph) in the airports - when you are in the queue, no one waits, and will push a bit to find his way to be in the front. And so, sometimes it's through corruption. And who provokes the corruption is the man who wants to satisfy his own needs, and therefore the leaders (inaudible). The policeman, for instance, or the director and so forth, he will get corrupted.

So the change of attitude of everybody, whole society, to see that we need an orderly way of living, without pushing the stronger to push the weaker. So my answer was that do what is good for your country, what is good for your people, so what I would advise them is to be in a very, very close interaction with their people, and so that they do what the people want them to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: And that was former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano, who is now $5 million richer. That's what I call a prize. Shame I'm not his best friend.

I'm Femi Oke. You've been watching INSIDE AFRICA. I'll see you back here next week. Take care.

END

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