The Lomé International Seminar, a Success!!!

The auditorium of the Université de Lomé (the University of Lomé) hosted on December 15, 2020, the third edition of the Lomé International Seminar on the theme ‘’Fight against Corruption: ethics and integrity in Public Procurement”
Co-organized by the Togo Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (ARMP-Togo) and the Center of Public Law of Université de Lomé, the said seminar was launched by Professor Dodzi Komla Kokoroko, in attendance of Mr. Aftar Touré MOROU, the Acting Managing Director of ARMP-Togo, Mr. Essohanam Wiyao, the President of the higher authority for prevention and fight against corruption and related breaches (HAPLUCIA). There were also Professor Akodah Ayewouadan, the Minister of Communication and Media, spokesperson of the government and Mrs. Lidi Bessi-Kama, the Minister of Sports and Entertainment.

Being international, there was among the active participants, a special keynote speaker from Burkina Faso who even gave the first conference of the seminar. It was Professor Seni Mahamadou Ouedraogo, the Minister of civil service, labor and social protection in Burkina Faso.

Public procurement is one of the key elements of economic development of a country. Therefore, the member States of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) put in place a legal harmonized frame for the management of public procurement through the guidelines n° 04/2005/CM/UEMOA and n° 05/2005/CM/UEMOA of November 9, 2005.

Based on the guidelines, the Lomé International Seminar, on one hand, aimed at spreading the regulatory tools promoting ethics and helping fight corruption, and on the other hand, focused on analyzing the specificities and the effectiveness of such tools in WAEMU zone in the light of the optimal and effective standards in terms of public procurement management.

The various presentations and debates during the seminar shed lights on corruption in public procurement. All the actors, whether from civil society, politics or universities, came to the same conclusion which still is that corruption is a plague in public procurement and that it should be fought against. The best way to come to the greatest sustainable solution is through true discussion of all the actors intervening in public procurement so as to really clean up the field.

It’s now up to everyone to see to the respect of the provisions of the code of ethics and integrity in public procurement in order to improve such a sector.