The African Union (AU) has adopted the Common Africa Position on Asset Recovery (Capar), to enable member countries to recover stolen assets.
The executive secretary of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption (AU -ABC) Charity Nchimunya disclosed during a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania that Capar is now operational.
Nchimunya explained that Capar was critical in reversing illegal financial flows and other assets out of Africa.
“It can contribute to the fight against corruption in the continent,” she said during the meeting in Arusha on November 30.
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The AU board’s meeting that lasted for a week in Arusha, sought to come up with guidelines and operationalization of Capar.
Initially, Capar’s establishment was endorsed during an AU meeting in Kigali, Rwanda in 2020.
This was after African leaders raised concern over increased incidents where foreigners and some Africans were involved in illegally transferring money and other valuables out of the continent.
As a result, Capar was tasked with the responsibility of identifying assets stolen from the continent for recovery purposes.
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Meanwhile, the African leaders have unanimously agreed that Capar will work closely with anti-corruption bodies in countries where graft is rampant.
“After struggling for many years, a mechanism that will help in recovery of stolen assets is now in place,” she told The Citizen.
She explained that it will operate on four pillars; asset detection and identification, asset recovery and return, asset management and cooperation, and partnership.
“It is now possible for stolen money from Africa and stashed in foreign banks to be recovered,” she said.
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According to the AU-ABC chairperson Seynabou Ndiaye, some of the assets have been smuggled out of the continent by leaders, their relatives or accomplices and other influential politicians in member states.
