Webinar recap: political finance transparency in Africa - turning global norms into local action
On February 18, 2026, Partnerships for Integrity (P4I) convened institutional and civil society leaders from across Africa for a discussion on implementing the new United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) resolution on political finance transparency.
The webinar kicked off with Commissioner Joseph Whitall of Ghana's Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice celebrating a significant achievement: the adoption of UNCAC Resolution 11/7 in December 2025—the first-ever UNCAC resolution specifically addressing political finance transparency. Ghana co-sponsored the resolution alongside Norway, Albania, and Mongolia, with one quarter of all co-sponsoring states coming from Africa, demonstrating substantial political will on the continent.
Transparency isn't just a governance goal—it's a public right. Yet the practical challenge is stark: only 2 out of 51 African countries currently publish political finance information online.
Ghana's Leadership Journey
Commissioner Whitall detailed Ghana's advocacy trail leading to the resolution's adoption. Beginning in 2023, Ghana worked closely with accountability institutions and civil society organizations like Transparency International Ghana to push the political finance agenda both locally and internationally. During the December 2025 Conference of States Parties in Doha, Ghana's delegation—led by the Speaker of Parliament—intensified negotiations, addressing key issues including disclosure obligations, oversight bodies, whistleblower protection, gender equity, and civil society participation. Ghana actively lobbied major states parties, paving the way for consensus adoption.
Domestically, Ghana is already moving forward. An independent member of parliament has introduced a private member's bill to amend the Political Parties Act, and a constitutional review committee has recommended reforms in political party financing.
The UNODC Roadmap
Isatou Batonon, Anti-Corruption and Governance Specialist at UNODC, outlined the resolution's key components and implementation support. Resolution 11/7 establishes global minimum standards for public disclosure of political funding, restrictions on illicit and foreign donations, oversight mechanisms, and sanctions.
The challenges are significant. Of 119 states parties reviewed under UNCAC, 76 received recommendations on implementing Article 7 regarding political finance transparency, with recurring issues including absent legal frameworks, limited oversight capacity, and insufficient public access to information.
UNODC is responding with practical support: collecting good practices, developing implementation guidance, facilitating peer exchange, and providing technical assistance. One concrete initiative involves the Africa Young Parliamentarians Network, where UNODC is organizing workshops for Southern Africa Chapter members from SADC countries to assess legal frameworks and develop parliamentary recommendations.
Senegal's Comprehensive Reform
Birahime Seck, Vice President of Senegal's National Office Against Corruption (OFNAC), described his country's ambitious 2025 legislative package. Four major laws were adopted: creating OFNAC, protecting whistleblowers, ensuring access to information, and requiring asset declarations.
"These laws create an entire ecosystem." - Birahime Seck
The whistleblower protection law offers incentives—whistleblowers receive 10% of confiscated amounts—while access to information laws empower journalists and civil society to hold stakeholders accountable. Senegal also has a draft law on political party financing nearing parliamentary adoption. OFNAC's mandate extends beyond registration to active investigation of wealth declarations for ministers, prosecutors, directors general, and other high-ranking officials, both in public and private sectors.
Kenya's Pioneering Challenges
Salome Oyugi, former head of the political party unit at Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), shared lessons from Kenya's pioneering but challenging implementation of campaign finance regulation following the 2010 Constitution. The commission's objectives were clear: equal opportunity, preventing corruption through money, stopping monopolization by wealthy interests, and demanding transparency.
Kenya enacted the Election Campaign Financing Act before the 2013 elections, deliberately drafted to be "self-explanatory and self-implementable" in a hostile regulatory environment. However, implementation faced obstacles: Parliament's failure to adopt implementing regulations, capacity constraints, and the sheer complexity of monitoring expenditures across multiple candidates and parties.
Looking toward 2027 elections, Oyugi recommended fast-tracking engagement with Parliament's justice and legal affairs committee, capacity building across IEBC, reviewing procedures for the AI and technology era, automating reporting processes, and increasing public awareness.
Civil Society's Critical Role
The webinar's second panel highlighted civil society's indispensable monitoring and advocacy functions. Henry Muguzi, Executive Director of the Alliance for Finance Monitoring, described the resolution as arriving at "a very timely moment" as Africa grapples with massive money flows from dubious sources—wealthy companies buying contracts, illicit networks, and bureau barons.
Muguzi's organization deployed "an army of young people" to track and document campaign spending in Uganda's 2016 and 2021 elections, publishing reports on expenditures. However, he noted that his organization's operations were recently suspended for promoting transparency in political financing.
The challenge extends beyond individual countries. Muguzi called for the African Union to establish continental standards, noting that two different AU bodies handle democracy/elections and anti-corruption separately without coordination.
Mar Nyang, Founder of Gambia Participates, emphasized concrete civil society actions: using technology and potentially AI-powered tools to measure campaign activities—counting t-shirts, vehicles, meals—and publishing anecdotal evidence and estimates when parties refuse to disclose spending.
"If they debunk what we are putting out, then go ahead and disclose your own finances. It's as simple as that," Marr Nyang
Both advocates stressed the need to mobilize youth around the costs of unregulated political finance.
"Young people don't want to grow up in this environment when their politicians are captured by wealthy interests," Henry Muguzi
A Year of Action Ahead
The webinar concluded with a call to action focused on five key areas:
· Legal reform with political party engagement
· Parliamentary dialogue during reform processes
· Institutional capacity building with qualified personnel and sophisticated tools
· Civil society monitoring and youth engagement
· Regional and international peer exchange
The momentum is clear: a historic UN resolution, African leadership in its adoption, and concrete implementation efforts already underway in multiple countries.
