Workshop held on drafting new three-year Action Plan for implementation of the Strategy for Prevention and Fight against Corruption

(Patria) - Workshop held on drafting new three-year Action Plan for implementation of the Strategy for Prevention and Fight against Corruption of Zenica-Doboj Canton. The Office for the Fight against Corruption of Zenica-Doboj Canton organized a workshop in Zenica on the topic "Drafting a three-year Action Plan for implementation of the Strategy for Prevention and Fight against Corruption of Zenica-Doboj Canton for the period 2025-2027" for coordinators of anti-corruption activities of bodies/institutions and cities/municipalities of this canton.

The workshop was held in cooperation with the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK), with the support of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the lecturer and moderator of the workshop was APIK representative Mevludin Džindo.

Dževad Fejzić, Secretary of the Office for the Fight against Corruption authorized by the Government of ZDC, said that the current Action Plan was adopted in 2022, and that the Office, pursuant to the Regulation on three-year planning of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is obliged to draft a new plan that will be valid until 2027.

- The Office will, by the end of 2024, conduct an evaluation, i.e., a revision of all activities carried out in the previous three years. In the new three-year Action Plan, we will incorporate activities that are continuously implemented, activities that were planned but not fully implemented, as well as activities foreseen by the Action Plan for Prevention and Fight against Corruption at the level of BiH institutions, which resulted from the Strategy for the Fight against Corruption of Bosnia and Herzegovina - said Fejzić.

He emphasized that the Office will have the authority to verify the assets of between 1,600 and 1,700 appointed persons who will be obliged to declare assets in accordance with the Law on Declaration and Verification of Assets of Holders of Public Functions, which the Assembly of ZDC recently sent to public consultation.

In addition, the Office is currently focused on drafting four new registers - a register of non-profit organizations that receive funds, and registers of incentives, subsidies, transfers, and other disbursements from the Budget of ZDC.

- We have named this year the year of registers, given that we previously established two registers - of appointed and employed persons. By establishing four more new registers, the Office will be able to eliminate certain risks of corruption that arise in a very simple and practical way - said Fejzić.

The workshop was an opportunity for exchange of experiences among coordinators of anti-corruption activities of bodies/institutions and cities/municipalities of this canton. Hamzalija Hojkurić, Assistant to the Mayor of Tešanj Municipality, said that the experiences in this municipality are very positive, where anti-corruption prevention activities have been implemented since 2018.

- Our task is not to be investigative bodies, but we want to conduct preventive activities in the field of fighting and preventing corruption. Preventive activities are the very fact that all mechanisms exist, starting from the commission, the coordinator, to the model for reporting corruption by both citizens and employees of any institution.

The existence of the system is in itself a preventive activity in this area, but real effects and greater freedom can be expected in the coming period. In our society, there is still a principled and verbal support for this area, because there are no strong legal solutions that oblige municipalities and other institutions, and there are still no jobs that would deal with this work. We lack institutional regulation in this area to strengthen activities at all levels - said Hojkurić.