Dili – Tuesday (4/3), The Anti-Corruption Commissioner Adérito de Jesus Soares, accompanied by Deputy Commissioners, José de Jesus Neves and Manuel Bucar Corte-Real, today presented the Commission’s 2013 Annual Report to the National Parliament. CAC Executive Secretary Alexandre Freitas, directors and staff were also present.
The 2013 Annual Report, which spans 33 pages, is the fourth report and marks the end of the first mandate of Commissioner Soares on 22 February 2014.
Commissioner Soares has sent an official letter to President of National Parliament, Mr. Vicenti da Silva Guterres, indicating that he will not continue in a second term as Commissioner of CAC.
Commissioner Soares will continue his PhD study at the Australian National University, which has been pending for the last four years.
The first mandate has seen Commissioner Soares and Deputy Commissioners Neves and Bucar lead CAC effectively since its beginnings in February 2010. With high expectations from the community, CAC has been successful in a number of investigation cases and implementing educational outreach programs. This has included conducting workshops, conferences, and meetings that have involved thousands of students, community leaders, religious leaders and civil servants in every district.
Under Commissioner Soares, CAC has:
- Investigated several high-level government officials accused of corruption, receiving dispatch orders from the Prosecutor-General’s office for 73 cases of which we investigated and completed a report for 69 of these cases.
- held more than 100 town hall meetings across every district as part of our education campaign
- Completed a number of landmark technical reports, including a country-wide corruption perception monitor and a public service integrity survey.
Despite a number of challenges encountered, under Commissioner Soares, the leadership of CAC has established an effective and strong network with its stakeholders in Timor-Leste, including the Government, the National Parliament, media, and civil society organizations.
During its first mandate, CAC also successfully established a network with international anti-corruption organizations in other countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore Hong Kong, Australia and the US. In order to increase its technical capacities, CAC Senior Management and staff also attended numerous international conferences and trainings.
Commissioner Soares, together with the Deputy Commissioners, also engaged in discussions with international anti-corruption organizations such as the United Nations Organization of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the USAID/MCC FOTI Program, and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Although CAC is a new institution, during the first mandate, Commissioner Soares gained international trust to host the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative Conference for Asia and the Pacific: 18th Steering Group Meeting and 12th Regional Seminar, which was attended by anti-corruption agencies from 29 countries in Dili last July. He also represented the Steering Group to deliver a message to the Conference of United Nations Convention on Anti-Corruption (UNCAC) in Panama in November 2013.
Together, these actions have established international cooperation that will allow the new commissioner to continue the CAC’s important work into the future.
The National Parliament is now in the process of appointing the next Commissioner to ensure the Commission meets its 2020 objectives during its second mandate. (*)
