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Speaker Among officiates at the opening of the 5th African Organisation of Public Accounts Committees (AFROPAC) Assembly.
It was held under the theme: “Illicit Financial Flows and Fostering Public Financial Resilience.”
In her address, she challenged AFROPAC to work collaboratively in devising effective strategies to combat illicit financial flows which she noted, manifest in their respective countries through corruption, smuggling, tax evasion, human trafficking, drug trade, and aggressive transfer pricing, among others. She emphasized that such financial crimes undermine revenue collection, which is crucial for financing national development aspirations and ensuring quality service delivery to citizens, which forums like AFROPAC should address.
The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, has urged the leaders of the Accountability Committees in African Parliaments to take the lead in combating corruption and all forms of illicit financial flows in order to promote development across the continent.
She made this appeal during the official opening of the 5th African Organization of Public Accounts Committees (AFROPAC) Assembly, held under the theme: “Illicit Financial Flows and Fostering Public Financial Resilience” at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala.
During her speech, Speaker Among expressed deep concern about the financial hemorrhage caused by illicit financial flows, referencing reports which estimate that Africa loses approximately US$88 billion annually to these illegal financial practices. This equates to a staggering Shs 325 trillion per year, with Uganda alone losing Shs 2 trillion annually emphasizing that this financial loss has a detrimental impact on the continent’s development agenda.
Speaker Among further highlighted that the loss is deeply felt by ordinary citizens, particularly in Uganda, where the funds lost through illicit financial flows stem directly from the taxes paid by the people.
The Speaker also lamented the widening deficit in governance and service delivery across Africa, attributing the growing challenges to these significant financial losses.