More than 20 senior leadership and management staff from the Anti-Corruption Commission of Zambia have completed a four-day workshop aimed at equipping them with skills to successfully lead anti-corruption agencies and mitigate corruption both within the organisation and externally.
Convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Anti-Corruption Commission of Zambia, the management and leadership training programme was the first of a series of three, which will see more than 70 personnel from different departments and levels of management benefit from a range of skills including strengthening their technical know-how as well as leadership and managerial skills, as part of efforts towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 16.
The workshop, which took place from 11 – 14 April 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia, was officially opened by the acting Director-General of the Zambian Anti-Corruption Commission, Silumesi Michula, while the Secretariat’s award-winning Adviser and Head of Public Sector Governance, Dr Roger Koranteng, conducted the training.
Speaking during the workshop, Dr Koranteng said:
“Corruption, the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, is the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development around the world. To ensure the smooth and effective management of Anti-Corruption Agencies, effective leadership is key to producing greater intervention-based results…and the management staff of Anti-Corruption Agencies must become prudent to influence, involve, and gain support from those they are leading.
The Commonwealth Secretariat has supported the Anti-Corruption Commission in Zambia over the years and will continue to do so. This training programme is the first of three batches that the Commonwealth Secretariat is sponsoring in Zambia, and I trust the management and staff of the Zambian Anti-Corruption Commission will take full advantage of these training programmes to refresh, upgrade and acquire new knowledge and skills for making your Commission effectivities and efficient.”
At the conclusion of the four-day workshop, participants said it was a highly informative and hands-on experience, which will allow them to be better leaders and effectively implement anti-corruption measures to achieve transparency and accountability within the Commission as well as externally with stakeholders.
“It will induce excellency and integrity to end up with good and effective managers and leaders. The conflict management skills will help to resolve the day-to-day interpersonal challenges which in turn builds teamwork for the common goal and objectives of the organisation,” one participant said.
“My organisation will benefit tremendously because the course has taught me to have social skills, integrity, and ethics…the institution will also benefit because I will be able to give timely advice and approach my officers with a degree of courtesy knowing full well that this also has a bigger role to play in the management of the institution,” another participant said.
The workshops form part of the Secretariat’s ongoing mission to equip member countries to combat systemic corruption and enhance good governance by sharing best practices, training, and policy research. Previous workshops have been successfully held in Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, and most recently, in Trinidad and Tobago for the Secretariat’s recently launched anti-corruption framework.
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Media contact
- Angela Kolongo Communications Officer, Communications Division, Commonwealth Secretariat
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