Corruption and governance are increasingly becoming topical issues in African politics. Donors and international financial institutions are also increasingly utilizing the concepts of corruption and governance as conditionalities for granting financial aid.
Recent scholarly research has also found these concepts to be key determinants of a country’s global competitiveness. Although related, governance and anti-corruption are distinct notions. While corruption is defined by instances of abuse of entrusted power for private gain, governance embodies the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for the common good. Compared to corruption, the scope of the concept of governance is generally broader, spanning issues of public policy and decision-making, transparency and access to information, enhancing state performance, and matters relating to social justice, rights and the rule of law.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) was originally established as the Institute for Defence Policy by Dr Jakkie Cilliers, and Mr PB Mertz in 1991 and has offices in Pretoria, Cape Town, Nairobi and Addis Ababa.
Source: Institute for Security Studies
Wednesday, September 25, 1991
Saturday, September 14, 1991
Liberian Rebels Said to Seize A Sierra Leone Border Bridge
Guerrillas of the Liberian rebel leader Charles Taylor have taken control of an important border bridge in neighboring Sierra Leone, a Taylor spokesman said today. The spokesman, Ernest Eastman, said the Taylor troops had pushed up to 15 miles inside Sierra Leone to block an attack by remnants of forces loyal to the slain Liberian President, Samuel K. Doe.
Sierra Leone says Mr. Taylor is trying to force it to end support for a six-nation peacekeeping force that has blocked him from advancing on Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Mr. Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia invaded Liberia on Dec. 24, 1989, from the Ivory Coast to bring down the Doe Government. The rebels met little resistance from Government forces until they reached the outskirts of Monrovia.
Source: New York Times
Sierra Leone says Mr. Taylor is trying to force it to end support for a six-nation peacekeeping force that has blocked him from advancing on Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Mr. Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia invaded Liberia on Dec. 24, 1989, from the Ivory Coast to bring down the Doe Government. The rebels met little resistance from Government forces until they reached the outskirts of Monrovia.
Source: New York Times
Friday, September 6, 1991
SOVIETS RECOGNIZE BALTIC INDEPENDENCE, ENDING 51-YEAR OCCUPATION OF 3 NATIONS
The Soviet Union's new ruling council recognized the independence of the three Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, today at its first meeting. The move formally freed the three small republics, which were incorporated forcibly into the Soviet Union in 1940 but renewed their drive for independence in the era of glasnost. Their campaign was bitterly resisted by Moscow until last month, when central controls unraveled in the wake of the failed coup and a procession of foreign governments granted the Baltics diplomatic recognition. In matching proclamations for the three republics, the council also called for negotiations on disentangling the complex economic, political and military ties between the new states and the rest of the Soviet Union.
The declarations were the first action by the State Council, a committee of republic leaders and President Mikhail S. Gorbachev that was granted sweeping emergency powers by the national Congress on Thursday to control the rapid disintegration of the Soviet Union. The proclamations were read later in the day by Foreign Minister Boris D. Pankin. Other changes continued to reverberate in the wake of the failed coup, with the city of Leningrad winning a battle to change its name back to the original St. Petersburg. The move, approved by residents in a referendum in June, was formally affirmed today in a decree of the Russian federated republic's Parliament, the press agency Tass reported.
Mr. Pankin reported, for example, that the chairman of the Georgian Parliament had attended part of the session, although Georgia had not necessarily been expected to take part. The Soviet news reports indicated that the main order of business, aside from independence for the Baltic states, was to initiate action on the nation's two most urgent concerns: the economy and the military. The decision on the Baltic republics effectively acknowledges a fait accompli, since more than 60 nations, including the United States, had already recognized the three states since the coup and Western ambassadors were already taking up residence.
Official Soviet recognition of the Baltic states had been expected at the Congress of People's Deputies, but republic leaders evidently decided not to raise the issue in the assembly for fear of increasing the momentum for secessionist moves in other regions.
The proclamations declared that Moscow would support the entry of the three republics into the United Nations. All three declared their hope of becoming integrated into Europe and the "world community."
Source: New York Times
The declarations were the first action by the State Council, a committee of republic leaders and President Mikhail S. Gorbachev that was granted sweeping emergency powers by the national Congress on Thursday to control the rapid disintegration of the Soviet Union. The proclamations were read later in the day by Foreign Minister Boris D. Pankin. Other changes continued to reverberate in the wake of the failed coup, with the city of Leningrad winning a battle to change its name back to the original St. Petersburg. The move, approved by residents in a referendum in June, was formally affirmed today in a decree of the Russian federated republic's Parliament, the press agency Tass reported.
Mr. Pankin reported, for example, that the chairman of the Georgian Parliament had attended part of the session, although Georgia had not necessarily been expected to take part. The Soviet news reports indicated that the main order of business, aside from independence for the Baltic states, was to initiate action on the nation's two most urgent concerns: the economy and the military. The decision on the Baltic republics effectively acknowledges a fait accompli, since more than 60 nations, including the United States, had already recognized the three states since the coup and Western ambassadors were already taking up residence.
Official Soviet recognition of the Baltic states had been expected at the Congress of People's Deputies, but republic leaders evidently decided not to raise the issue in the assembly for fear of increasing the momentum for secessionist moves in other regions.
The proclamations declared that Moscow would support the entry of the three republics into the United Nations. All three declared their hope of becoming integrated into Europe and the "world community."
Source: New York Times
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