TI’s national chapter in Kenya has been the focus of attention from the media, local civil society groups and donors following dismissal of the chapter's executive director by the TI Kenya board of directors. The board said it had acted on the grounds of alleged financial improprieties. The dismissed executive director has in turn publicly raised allegations of conflicts of interest against some of the chapter's board members.

In view of the risk to the reputation of the TI movement worldwide, and considering the nature of the allegations, the Membership Accreditation Committee and the Ethics Committee of TI’s international board of directors are reviewing the matter. They are expected to advise the international board shortly on appropriate steps forward.

TI founder and Advisory Council chair Peter Eigen has accepted an offer from UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to serve on the newly formed Africa Progress Panel, alongside such distinguished individuals as Kofi Annan, Olusegun Obasanjo and Bob Geldof. The panel will monitor progress by the Group of Eight nations in fulfilling the pledges they made at their summit in Gleneagles in 2005.

TI will hold its Annual Membership Meeting on 13-14 November at the Marriott Hotel in Guatemala City, Guatemala, just prior to the 12th International Anti-Corruption Conference. For more details about the annual meeting, please contact Stan Cutzach at scutzach@transparency.org

The Americas Department of the Transparency International Secretariat has recently published Anti-corruption conventions in the Americas: what society can do to make them work. This easy-to-read publication provides a concise overview of anti-corruption conventions in the Americas, making conventions more accessible to a wide range of civil society organisations. Special emphasis is given to the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC) and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). English and Spanish versions available online at: www.transparency.org/tilac

Seventy TI representatives from 31 national chapters and more than 60 Croatian officials participated in the third annual Europe and Central Asia Regional Meeting in Brijuni, Croatia, from 26 to 28 May. Croatia’s deputy prime minister and minister of justice both gave keynote speeches. The meeting included workshops on public contracting, the UN Convention against Corruption, political party financing and private sector initiatives. It was jointly organised by TI Croatia and the TI Secretariat, and funded by the Australian Embassy, the American Bar Association / Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, the Delegation of the European Commission, the Embassy of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, the German Ministry for Cooperation and Development, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Republic of Croatia, Royal Dutch Embassy, Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Stability Pact Office in Sarajevo, and USAID.

The National Survey on Corruption 2005, recently presented by Transparencia Paraguay, found that one in four citizens had to pay a bribe to complete a transaction with the country’s public institutions, totalling US $30 million in bribes in 2005. The three principal findings of the survey were: awareness of corruption has increased; citizens remained pessimistic about the capacity of public institutions to fight corruption; and public awareness of corruption and bribes had increased in the last year. For more information, contact María del Pilar Callizo at: transpar@telesurf.com.py

The first Lebanese Code of Corporate Governance was released by the Lebanese Transparency Association’s Corporate Governance Task Force on 13 June. It encourages companies to adopt standards and practices to improve their performance, competitiveness and access to foreign markets and capital. The Code defines shareholders' rights and obligations, describes the structure, responsibilities and prerogatives of a company's board of directors, and outlines auditing procedures and corporate transparency principles. It includes appendices that tackle issues related to the local economy, such as governance of family-owned enterprises - the majority of businesses in Lebanon - and minority shareholders. For more, see: www.transparency-lebanon.org

On 26 May, TI Canada celebrated its 10th anniversary with the symposium Transparency International: New Perspectives. TI Chair Huguette Labelle provided the keynote address, which reviewed the accomplishments of the anti-corruption movement, addressing its present state and its future aspirations. This was followed by a retrospective of TI Canada by outgoing founding Chair and President, Dr Wesley Cragg. The newly elected Chair and President of TI Canada is Clare Bonnell.

Transparency International joined environmental organisations in June to express concern about allegations of corruption through vote trading in the International Whaling Commission (IWC). There is widespread concern that undue influence will enable the overturn of previously established conservation measures, such as the whaling moratorium of 1982 and the Antarctic Ocean Whale sanctuary. In numerous statements, public officials have admitted to exerting or accepting influence to vote in one direction at past IWC meetings. Such behaviour would compromise the Commission’s integrity and jeopardise the very purpose of the IWC.TI has called on the IWC to investigate these allegations.

In the framework of its Transparent Public Contracting Programme, Poder Ciudadano, TI’s chapter in Argentina, signed a Transparency Agreement with the Social Security Fund for Attorneys of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CASSABA). The Agreement will be applied throughout the bidding process of CASSABA’s selection of financial consultancy firms for support in its investment funds. Poder Ciudadano, acting as an external observer of the process, will participate in all stages of the bidding process in order to guarantee transparency. Poder Ciudadano will also hold a public consultation with interested parties to provide technical assistance to CASSABA. For further information, contact Julieta Aria at julieta@poderciudadano.org

Samuel Rotta Castilla of Proética, Peru, analysed the fight against corruption in Peru’s public agenda based upon the following question: why haven’t the main political players in election campaigns presented proposals on how they would reduce corruption if they won? In Rotta’s opinion, there are four answers. First, the three main political parties have previously been linked to corruption. Second, the fight against corruption is a difficult topic to address. Third, while corruption is a structural problem in Peru, fighting poverty has become an issue of higher priority during political campaigns.Fourth, candidates have claimed that the judicial system is responsible for fighting corruption, thus avoiding a political cost to themselves. For more information on this article, see: www.proetica.org.pe/Descargas/samuel.htm

The workshop Preventing Corruption in Public Procurement: Capacity Building and Networking for Civil Society and Local Government, jointly organised by TI Malaysia and the Institute Integrity of Malaysia, was held on 22 May. It was attended by over 200 people, including representatives of local government agencies, the Auditor General’s office, the Anti-corruption Agency, civil society organisations, the media and members of Transparency International Malaysia, and received wide media coverage. Discussion centred on international experiences in preventing corruption in public procurement as well as procedures, guidelines, rules and laws specific to the Malaysian national experience.