The international Publish What You Pay Coalition (PWYP) condemns the judicial harassment of the foremost anti-corruption activists in Congo-Brazzaville, Brice Mackosso and Christian Mounzéo, as a politically-motivated attempt to silence calls for more responsible management of the country’s oil wealth. Congo is one of the poorest and most heavily indebted African countries, despite earning billions in oil revenues.
The attacks on anti-corruption campaigners come at a crucial moment in the campaign for more transparency in Congo’s oil sector. The government has supposedly committed to setting up a multi-stakeholder committee to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international framework for disclosing oil revenues in which civil society is intended to play a key oversight role. In addition, the establishment of Poverty Reduction Strategy and of an Anti-Corruption Commission with independent civil society participation are essential conditions for debt relief agreed with the IMF and World Bank under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Overall, debt relief for Congo is premised on increasing good governance, particularly in managing the natural resource sector, including increased public oversight.
See full Press Release.
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