In 2019, students in 55 Integrity Clubs in Uvira and Bukavu checked how their schools are run, spoke out against corruption and took their demands to the provincial government.
| Acronym | Meaning |
|---|---|
| BEAG | Group d’Etudes et Capacitation en Gestion |
| CDF | Congolese franc |
| CERC | Centre de Recherche sur l’Anti-Corruption |
| JWG | Joint working group |
| NORAD | Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation |
| SHINE | Students Acting for Honesty, Integrity and Equality |
What CERC did in 2019, and what it changed for students, schools and communities.
The real heroes of our story are the 1,000 courageous people who have joined us.
Corruption is rising in every public sector of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. National media are full of cases involving leaders in government, business and civil society. Corruption is growing in the mining sector, and people who dare to denounce it are still threatened. Abuse of power and the misappropriation of public funds put development and democracy at risk. That is why CERC chose to become a voice for the voiceless.
When we opened our doors two years ago, we knew the task would not be easy. Thanks to our small, committed team and to the support of donors, the media and partners in the public and private sectors, we have made real progress. From mobilisation campaigns to capacity-building workshops in communities, these two years have been busy and fruitful.
The real heroes of our story are the 1,000 courageous people who have joined us. Integrity Club members walked close to 5 km every month from Luberizi to Tengetenge to monitor the rehabilitation of an irrigation canal and report mismanagement. In Sange, a club member put their own schooling at risk to expose graft at their school. In Uvira, CERC staff members who reported corruption in road traffic have been victimised and harassed ever since.
These integrity heroes are at the heart of our work. They let us speak with the authority of the public and make the experience of ordinary people heard. They strengthen our democracy and help make sure that public resources serve the public interest.
2019 was a politically charged year. Corruption in the presidential, legislative and governors’ elections, and the many corruption cases involving government officials, showed how dissatisfied people are and how much they want a change in the way the country is led.
We are grateful to everyone who shared our work on social networks, took part in our mobilisation campaigns or made a donation, large or small. Many people have no corruption case to report, yet they support our movement. This support lets us continue our work and serve the Congolese people in the years to come.
Heri Bitamala
Founder and Executive Director
Led by local people, CERC tackles corruption at its roots and rebuilds hope in South Kivu, where decades of corruption and mismanagement have undermined social services. We work to make integrity a practical choice for as many people as possible.
In 2019, Integrity Clubs reached 55 secondary schools in Uvira and Bukavu. These figures show what young people achieved with our partners.
Thanks to our partners, in 2019:
Integrity Clubs in secondary schools in Uvira and Bukavu, where students, parents and communities hold schools to account.
young people in CERC’s network, monitoring vital projects and services where they live.
club members marched against corruption in December 2019 and handed a memorandum to government officials.
young people reached by the Integrity Clubs (cumulative, September 2018 – August 2019).
Our vision is a Congo where people live in a society free of corruption.
Heri Bitamala founded CERC in 2017 to give young people the means to fight corruption and build integrity in their communities. CERC has since grown into a network of 1,000 young people who support each other as they monitor vital projects and services where they live, and solve the problems they find.
We believe that young people can solve some of the most pressing problems of our time. Our mission is to “support youth to create positive change towards a more accountable, open, inclusive society”. We do this through skills development, capacity building and technical support.
Development works best when young people take part in decisions in their own communities, and when they work with their leaders to make sure their needs are met and public commitments are kept. We give young people the knowledge, skills and tools to make this happen, in three ways.
Young people take part in planning and monitoring government programmes where they live. They gain and share the knowledge their communities need to make decisions, and learn to engage constructively with the authorities and hold public officials to account. More youth participation means more public oversight and fewer opportunities for corruption.
To hold anyone to account, young people need standards that those in charge are expected to meet, indicators to measure performance and monitoring that produces data. Most of our programmes use community monitoring of the quality of services: citizen reports and community scorecards, citizen budget monitoring and expenditure tracking, and media pressure.
Citizens and service providers usually share one goal: better public services. Our programmes encourage dialogue between young people and their governments, help citizens give service providers feedback backed by evidence and data, and prepare the authorities to receive it. The result is better communication, better decisions and better development results.
Building integrity takes more than one generation. We work with young people as catalysts for change because:
Integrity in schools
Since 2017, Integrity Clubs have given secondary school students a place to talk about corruption, speak out and monitor their school. In 2019, they reached 55 schools in Uvira and Bukavu.
With Integrity Clubs established in 55 secondary schools in Uvira and Bukavu, students, parents and the whole community have better ability to hold schools accountable for quality of education services provided.
Heri Bitamala, Executive Director
The Integrity Clubs are at the heart of the project SHINE and of CERC’s strategic plan 2017–2021. They rest on a simple idea: given the right opportunities, young people can change the social and economic conditions they live in. In the clubs, students reflect on corruption, voice their views and take part in community monitoring.
In 2019, the project gathered momentum. Fifty-five clubs now operate in secondary schools in Uvira and Bukavu, South Kivu. Schools report change in the short term: students and staff watch their own behaviour more closely and promote good conduct. More and more young people take part in debates, sketches, painting and short films against corruption. Club members are now encouraged to work beyond the school gates and to organise activities between clubs.
Each club is guided by a School Facilitator, an educator chosen by the principal to support its members. In January and February 2019, CERC trained the School Facilitators on the essentials of the anti-corruption legal framework, and worked with them on ways to make the clubs more interactive and more visible.
When they leave school, members are encouraged to stay engaged through other platforms, such as “Les bâtisseurs de l’intégrité” and the Independent Agency Against Corruption. We expect these young people, raised on the principles of integrity, to stand up to corruption and malpractice.
September 2018 – August 2019: CERC’s targets for the year and the results achieved.
| Indicator | Target | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Integrity Clubs running | 35 | 35 |
| Youth monitors (current and past club members) | 525 | 510 |
| Young people active in the clubs | 525 | 510 |
| Youth monitors trained | 510 | 225 |
| Members from groups at risk of exclusion | 15% | 15% |
| Young people reached by the clubs (cumulative) | 3,500 | 3,255 |
| Schools whose services are monitored | 35 | 35 |
| Infrastructure projects monitored (cumulative) | 31 | 27 |
| Joint Working Groups | 35 | 35 |
| Learning sessions with other schools | 70 | 34 |
| Fix rate of the problems found | 50% | 32% |
Targets are CERC’s share of the SHINE results framework; full figures in the SHINE project report 2017–2020. “–”: not reported.
Advocacy
In December 2019, CERC organised a march against corruption at provincial level with 100 Integrity Club members, in response to high-level corruption in education and in other key social sectors of South Kivu.
Led by CERC, the students handed government officials a memorandum of demands. They asked the government to act against corruption in the education sector, and to rehabilitate and equip schools so that Congolese children can study in the best conditions.
Where the money came from, how it was spent, and how it is accounted for.
Accountability
Project year 1 October 2018 – 30 September 2019 – audited statements of the SHINE projectThis review covers the second year of the project SHINE, from 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019, carried out by CERC with funding from Integrity Action (NORAD, project reference NORAD/SHINE/DRC2). It is based on the project’s financial statements, closed at 30 September 2019 by the finance and accounting services of CERC, and on the audit report of Group BEAG (Group Bureau d’Études, Audits et Capacitation en Gestion, Uvira), principal auditor Aluma Armand, chartered accountant (Expert Comptable Agréé), dated 14 October 2019, in Uvira. The audit was conducted in accordance with international standards on auditing. Amounts are in CDF, as in the audit report. The figures for 1 October 2018 – 30 September 2019 have been audited.
Income, expenditure and balances of all projects combined, compared with the previous year (October 2017 – September 2018).
| Income and expenditure | Oct 2018 – Sep 2019 CDF | Oct 2017 – Sep 2018 CDF |
|---|---|---|
| Income received | ||
| Integrity Action / NORAD – SHINE | 73,202,400 | 93,925,930 |
| Total income received | 73,202,400 | 93,925,930 |
| Expenditure, all projects combined | ||
| Staff costs | 24,960,000 | 32,520,000 |
| Programme activities | 34,040,597 | 39,991,100 |
| Rent, running costs and equipment | 5,382,250 | 6,196,080 |
| Professional fees, staff training and audit | 2,563,300 | 3,138,200 |
| Administration and overheads | 6,851,500 | 9,457,500 |
| Total expenditure | 73,797,647 | 91,302,880 |
| Income less expenditure | −595,247 | 2,623,050 |
| Balance brought forward from the previous year | 2,623,050 | – |
| Balance carried forward to the next year | 2,027,803 | 2,623,050 |
For each grant: the balance brought forward from the previous year, the funds received, the funds spent, the funds returned to the donor or transferred to another grant (and adjustments), and the balance carried forward. A negative balance means spending ahead of funding. Each line says whether its figures are audited, and by which audit.
| Grant and donor | Brought forward CDF | Received CDF | Spent CDF | Returned, transfers CDF | Carried forward CDF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SHINE Integrity Action (NORAD) · Audited – SHINE audit, year 2 | 2,623,050 | 73,202,400 | 73,797,647 | – | 2,027,803 |
| Total | 2,623,050 | 73,202,400 | 73,797,647 | – | 2,027,803 |
All the figures in this review relate to one project, funded by a grant from Integrity Action, with funding from NORAD, and restricted to that project.
| Project | Donor | Period | Received CDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| SHINE, year 2 | Integrity Action (NORAD) | Oct 2018 – Sep 2019 | 73,202,400 |
The funds available to the project for the year amounted to 75,825,450 CDF: the balance from year 1 (2,623,050 CDF) and two tranches of 36,601,200 CDF each from Integrity Action/NORAD (note 1). In all, Integrity Action transferred 73,202,400 CDF during the year (note 4); CERC made no contribution of its own to the project’s funds.
The auditor notes that the balance from year 1 had not been taken into account in resource planning (note 4).
Expenditure at 30 September 2019 amounted to 73,797,647 CDF, against a budget of 75,368,480 CDF including overheads: an expenditure rate of 97.9% and a variance of 1,570,833 CDF (note 3). Direct project costs amounted to 66,946,147 CDF and overheads to 6,851,500 CDF. The main headings were personnel (24,960,000 CDF, spent in full), training and capacity building (12,587,147 CDF), Integrity Clubs expenses and monitoring (11,949,500 CDF), and awareness raising, sensitisation and engagement with schools and communities (5,903,150 CDF).
Spending exceeded the budget on two lines. On line 3.a, spending reached 128.4% of the budget because the global partners workshop, planned in Kenya, took place in Nepal, and the flights cost more; bank charges (line 7.a) reached 115.3% of the budget. Nothing was spent on line 3.c because the awards ceremony was postponed to December 2019, as students could not be brought together during the long holidays (June–September).
Group BEAG audited the accounts of the SHINE project for the period from 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019, in accordance with international standards on auditing. The auditor’s opinion reads:
“On the basis of the checks carried out, our opinion is that the financial statements of SHINE project, closed at 30 September 2019 by the finance and accounting services of CERC, give a true and fair view, in all material respects, of the position and its state at 30 September 2019, in accordance with the accounting rules, the procedures of CERC and Integrity Action’s guidelines for the justification of expenditure.”
Aluma Armand, Principal Auditor, Group BEAG
Without qualifying this opinion, the auditor noted that the main observations concern gaps in applying CERC’s procedure manuals for the purchase of goods, and the partial implementation of the previous audit’s recommendations.
CERC is funded by institutional donors, through grants restricted to projects, and by donations from its supporters. In 2018–2019, the SHINE project was funded by Integrity Action, with funding from NORAD. The project has its approved budget; expenditure is justified in accordance with CERC’s procedures and Integrity Action’s guidelines for the justification of expenditure, and the project accounts are independently audited – the year 2 audit also reviewed the implementation of the previous audit’s recommendations.
| Tranche | Integrity Action/NORAD | CERC | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance from year 1 | 2 623 050 CDF | 0 CDF | 2 623 050 CDF |
| First tranche | 36 601 200 CDF | 0 CDF | 36 601 200 CDF |
| Second tranche | 36 601 200 CDF | 0 CDF | 36 601 200 CDF |
| TOTAL | 75 825 450 CDF | 0 CDF | 75 825 450 CDF |
| Item | Budget CDF | Actual CDF | Variance CDF | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planned income | 75,368,480 | 73,797,647 | 1,570,633 | 97.9 % |
As printed in the audit report. The difference between 75,368,480 and 73,797,647 is 1,570,833 CDF, the variance shown at the foot of the expenditure table below.
| Code | Description | Budget | Actual | Variance | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Personnel | ||||
| 1.a | Executive Director (Programme Manager) | 5,760,000 | 5,760,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 1.b | Project Coordinator | 3,840,000 | 3,840,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 1.c | Project Coordinator | 4,800,000 | 4,800,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 1.d | Finance Manager (GFP & Comm Officer) | 3,840,000 | 3,840,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 1.e | Advocacy & Policy Engagement | 2,880,000 | 2,880,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 1.f | Monitoring and Evaluation Officer | 3,840,000 | 3,840,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Subtotal | 24,960,000 | 24,960,000 | 0 | 100.0% | |
| 2 | Awareness raising, sensitisation and engagement with schools and communities | ||||
| 2.a | Transportation during engagement with schools and comm | 1,680,000 | 1,605,750 | 74,250 | 95.6% |
| 2.b | Event catering, staffing, venue hire | 1,300,000 | 1,298,500 | 1,500 | 99.9% |
| 2.c | Outreach and Media Coverage | 3,000,000 | 2,998,900 | 1,100 | 100.0% |
| Subtotal | 5,980,000 | 5,903,150 | 76,850 | 98.7% | |
| 3 | Training & Capacity Building | ||||
| 3.a | Global partners workshop: 2 flights, visas, travel insurances and meals during travel | 3,636,800 | 4,670,647 | -1,033,847 | 128.4% |
| 3.b | Teachers, Headteachers and IC Leaders trainings | 8,000,000 | 7,916,500 | 83,500 | 99.0% |
| 3.c | Annual Transparency and Anti-Corruption Awards ceremony and Donors events | 1,600,000 | 0 | 1,600,000 | 0.0% |
| Subtotal | 13,236,800 | 12,587,147 | 649,653 | 95.1% | |
| 4 | Integrity Clubs expenses and monitoring | ||||
| 4.a | Staff transportation during monitoring & engagement with other schools | 3,400,000 | 2,755,500 | 644,500 | 81.0% |
| 4.b | Tablets for Youth Monitoring | 2,400,000 | 2,394,000 | 6,000 | 99.8% |
| 4.c | Reimbursement for Integrity Clubs expenses | 6,800,000 | 6,800,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Subtotal | 12,600,000 | 11,949,500 | 650,500 | 94.8% | |
| 5 | Advocacy & Policy Engagement | ||||
| 5.a | Transportation | 1,440,000 | 1,398,700 | 41,300 | 97.1% |
| 5.b | Event catering, staffing, venue hire during JWGs meetings | 1,280,000 | 1,246,600 | 33,400 | 97.4% |
| 5.c | Accommodation | 960,000 | 955,500 | 4,500 | 99.5% |
| Subtotal | 3,680,000 | 3,600,800 | 79,200 | 97.8% | |
| 6 | Technical assistance & Professional Fees | ||||
| 6.a | Expert fees/consultants – only as required | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6.b | Monitoring & Evaluation | 1,800,000 | 1,563,300 | 236,700 | 86.9% |
| 6.c | Audit Fees | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 6.d | Translation Services | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Subtotal | 2,800,000 | 2,563,300 | 236,700 | 91.5% | |
| 7 | Other costs directly related to the project (comms, office supplies, printing, bank charges) | ||||
| 7.a | Bank Charges | 960,000 | 1,106,650 | -146,650 | 115.3% |
| 7.b | Communication | 1,600,000 | 1,577,500 | 22,500 | 98.6% |
| 7.c | Textbooks and ICs training materials production | 2,700,000 | 2,698,100 | 1,900 | 99.9% |
| Subtotal | 5,260,000 | 5,382,250 | -122,250 | 102.3% | |
| Total | 68,516,800 | 66,946,147 | 1,570,653 | 97.7% | |
| 8 | Overheads (max 10%) | 6,851,680 | 6,851,500 | 180 | 100.0% |
| Total project budget including overheads | 75,368,480 | 73,797,647 | 1,570,833 | 97.9% | |
| Item | Amount CDF |
|---|---|
| Balance from year 1 of the project | 2,623,050 |
| Total income transferred by Integrity Action | 73,202,400 |
| Total expenditure | 73,797,647 |
| Balance at 30 September 2019 | 2,027,803 |
The auditor notes that the previous year’s balance had not been taken into account in resource planning, which explains the difference between the variance in the financial report (1,570,832.62 CDF) and the cash balance (2,027,803 CDF).
The audit also certifies the project’s assets and equipment for year 2, of 2,918,000 CDF: one laptop, one voltage converter, one cupboard, one router and 17 smartphones.
Source: audit report of Group BEAG, 14 October 2019 (translated from French; amounts in Congolese francs, CDF, as in the original). Full report: audit report 2018–2019 (PDF).
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