Guinea’s Struggle to Combat Corruption: A Review of Asset Declarations and Transparency Measures

In a bid to combat corruption, Guinea has implemented several laws and regulations aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in public service. However, despite these efforts, the country still faces significant challenges in enforcing these measures.

Public Procurement and Management of Public Finances

Guinea’s 2017 Law on Prevention, Detection, and Repression of Corruption and Related Offences sets out rules and standards for public procurement, including anti-corruption mechanisms. However, in practice:

• The public procurement code is not well-known.
• The citizen budget is only available in electronic format, limiting access for those outside of urban areas.

Access to Information and Participation of Society

Guinea’s Law on Right of Access to Public Information defines modalities for accessing public information. However:

• There are no mechanisms for publishing information from periodic reports on corruption risks within the public administration.
• The law is not widely known to the public, and withholding of information by public officials presents challenges to accessing information.

Measures to Increase Transparency

To increase transparency, Guinea has:

• Involved civil society and media in citizen monitoring of public action.
• Included membership on Boards of Directors of Public Administrative Establishments.
• Undertaken activities to inform the public not to tolerate corruption through:
  • Statements by the Prime Minister.
  • Poster campaigns.
  • Distribution of leaflets.

Anti-Money Laundering Measures

Guinea’s Law on Fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing is the legal framework regulating the fight against money laundering. However:

• The roles of various players in preventing and detecting transfers of proceeds of crime are not known to the public, as this is considered a state secret.

Key Recommendations

To ensure the full implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), Association Guinéenne pour la Transparence makes several recommendations to Guinea’s authorities:

• Leading an assessment of Guinea’s implementation of Chapters II and V of the Convention.
• Promoting inclusion of stakeholders in the country evaluation process.
• Developing and updating tools for combating corruption and its consequences.
• Strengthening powers and independence of law enforcement agencies.
• Increasing popularization, dissemination, and appropriation of texts governing good governance.

By implementing these recommendations, Guinea can strengthen its efforts to combat corruption and promote transparency and accountability in public service.