The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) (french: Commission indépendante contre la corruption) is the

Anti-corruption agency An anti-corruption agency is a special police agency specialised in fighting political corruption and engaging in general anti-corruption activities. Most are founded by statute, but some have a constitutional status. List See also * * * ...

of Mauritius. The ICAC is headed by the Director-General.

History and establishment

ICAC was established under the Prevention of Corruption Act 2002 (PoCA). It was created to replace the defunct

Economic Crime Office The Economic Crime Office (ECO) was the anti-corruption agency of Mauritius. It was intended to investigate allegations of corruption in the private and public sectors. The ECO was headed by its Director-General. History and Establishment ECO ...

(ECO) which was dismantled by the MSM-MMM government in December 2001. ICAC has 3 main functions; * Investigation: enforcement of the laws against corruption. * Prevention: elimination of opportunities for corruption from systems and procedures. * Education: prevention of corruption through public education and support. ICAC strategic objectives are to; * Implement obligations in the SADC Protocol and the UN Convention against corruption as far as they relate to prevention by adapting corruption prevention strategies to suit the Mauritian environment; * Promote integrity, accountability, sound management of public affairs and responsible behaviour at organisational and individual levels and prompt corruption prevention cultures in the public sector; * Maintain a high public profile and "mind share" within the community by enhancing public confidence and trust in the public sector; and * Promote and strengthen the development of mechanisms to prevent and detect corruption in public and private sector.

Controversies

In 2015, an arrest warrant issued for the director of public prosecutions sparked a debate about the impartiality of the government's anti-corruption campaign. A board member of the ICAC, handed in her resignation, claiming that the institution was in the process of going against the country's democratic principles, apparently implying that the commission was not acting independently. In 2006, ICAC initiated an investigation to dismantle a network of

University of Mauritius The University of Mauritius (UoM) (french: Université de Maurice) is the national university of Mauritius. It is the oldest and largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered. The public university's main ...

lecturers moonlighting in other universities.

References

External links

*
ICAC Annual report - 2011
Law enforcement agencies of Mauritius Government agencies of Mauritius 2002 establishments in Mauritius Government agencies established in 2002 Anti-corruption agencies {{Mauritius-stub