Africa-Press – Gambia. It is now possible for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to institute investigations as an acting commissioner has been appointed.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Prince Simelane, has appointed Maphevu Mkhatshwa as Acting Commissioner of the ACC. Mkhatshwa’s acting appointment, according to Legal Notice No.371 of 2023, is for a period not exceeding six months. The legal notice came into force on December 21, 2023.
Mkhatshwa’s appointment comes after his appointment as Deputy Commissioner- Investigations and Assets Recovery for a further five years last month. That appointment was in terms of Legal Notice No.301 of 2023.
All along, it was not possible for the ACC to institute any investigations in the absence of a commissioner or one who was in office on an acting basis.
This was because the five-year contract of the ACC Commissioner, Daniel Dlamini, came to an end on October 16, 2023. Section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 2006 states that: “It is the commissioner who may authorise in writing any officer of the commission to conduct an inquiry or investigation into alleged or suspected offences under this Act.”
The lapse of Dlamini’s contract came at a time when the ACC was being called upon to investigate bribery allegations, involving the recent Senate elections. The deputy commissioner’s contract also came to an end and last month he was appointed for a further five years.
Appointed
While no one is appointed permanently or to act in these positions, the ACC cannot fully execute its primary mandate as per Section 10 of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 2006; which among others, is to receive and investigate complaints of alleged or suspected corrupt practices made against any person and further refer appropriate cases to the director of public prosecutions.
In the past few days, this publication reported at length about claims of bribery between aspiring senators and Members of Parliament (MPs). The claims were that the aspiring senators were made to fork out as much as E1 million in exchange for being voted for, a practice which has put into doubt the integrity of some of the legislators forming Parliament.
Investigations
A source informed this publication previously that in terms of laws governing the ACC, only the commissioner authorised investigations, which meant while the commissioner’s position was not filled with someone who could act in the interim, no investigations could be carried out.
This is provided for in the Prevention of Corruption Act No. 3 of 2006, in Section 11 Subsection 1, which states that in the performance of the functions of the commission under this Act, the commissioner may authorise in writing any officer of the commission to conduct an inquiry or investigation into alleged or suspected offences under this Act.
The source also mentioned that in the absence of a commissioner, the ACC could only carry out preliminary investigations and then present it to the commissioner for a full-blown investigation.
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