Legislation: The Law of the High Authority Against Corruption provides for the president to propose the creation of an anti-corruption agency, but not much progress has been made in this regard. The Penal Code 1886 indirectly deals with corruption committed by public officials, and it criminalises attempted corruption, while the Law of Crimes Against the Economy criminalises extortion as well as active and passive corruption. In March 2010, the Parliament passed the Public Probity Law, which obliges all government officials to declare their wealth, including revenues, bonds and shares or any other kind of property and valuables, domestic or abroad. The law covers entities holding public posts, either elected or nominated, managers of public property, in charge of armed forces, national police, public institutions, as well as executive organs and magistrates and other public officials. The new legislation will regulate the use of public goods and funds in Angola and is designed to help the concerned authorities to better fight corruption and manage public money, according to a June 2010 article by Angola Press. According to the Revenue Watch Institute Angola profile, the Law on State Secrecy 2002 and Law on National Security neutralised the positive effect on transparency in the discharge of government tasks brought about by the Law on Access to Administrative Documents of 2002. These laws in fact limit the types of documents citizens can have access to and grant the government the authority to imprison anyone who releases information that could be regarded as damaging to Angolan state interests and to censor news that deal with corruption. Furthermore, the laws also target multinational oil companies, providing for prosecution if these choose to release data on their transactions in Angola. Since the passage of these laws, the government has voluntarily disclosed many of its oil receipts thereby shedding some light on the sector. However, much remains to be done, as the focus on lack of transparency has now moved to the lower level of sub-contractors, according to the Revenue Watch Institute's Angola profile. Access the Lexadin World Law Guide for a collection of laws in Angola.

Government Strategies: The government's most successful initiative in Public Financial Management (PFM) and fiscal transparency has been the information system, which covers all the provinces and has helped strengthen budget execution and reporting, and information sharing on PFM issues. The system will be also extended to include some autonomous bodies. The effectiveness of the system, however, is limited because foreign credit lines and the state-owned oil company's (Sonangol) large quasi fiscal activities are not executed through the system. The government has also established, with the World Bank, a programme that monitors most government expenditures as they occur.

Anti-Corruption Agency: Angola does not have a functional, politically independent anti-corruption institution with a mandate to investigate and prosecute corruption cases. The establishment of a High Authority against Corruption (HAAC) in 1995 was intended to produce an independent public institution functioning in conjunction with the National Assembly in order to prevent corruption in public institutions. However, the HAAC has yet to begin functioning, as progress with the institutional setup has been slow and no anti-corruption strategy has yet been formulated. This is supported by Global Integrity 2010, according to which, the agency exists only in law.

Office of the Ombudsman: The Office of the Ombudsman was established in 2005. The Ombudsman is elected for a four-year term. The functions of the Ombudsman include issuing recommendations to the concerned institutions. The Ombudsman has achieved encouraging results especially in the field of prison conditions and excess of custody. A further expansion of the scope of action is slowed by the lack of qualified personnel. Global Integrity 2010 is somewhat critical towards the efficiency of this institution as it is not sufficiently protected from political interference in practice, and the current Ombudsman is considered by some groups as politically influenced. Furthermore, the appointments to the agency do not always support its independence, and individuals appointed may have clear party loyalties. The Ombudsman reports to the Commission of the National Assembly on a biannual basis, but these reports are not publicly available, which is in line with the general low level of access to politically sensitive information in Angola. The government does not usually act on the findings of the Ombudsman and often ignores or gives superficial attention to its reports, according to Global Integrity 2010.

Auditor General: The legal provisions are in place for audit and control systems of public finances. However, the Court of Accounts, Angola's supreme audit office, has only recently started to audit the accounts of some ministries and provincial governments, and it generally struggles under a politically controlled environment and large unaccounted funds. The Court has been more active than before, is supported by South Africa's auditor general. According to Global Integrity 2010, the appointments to this agency do not sufficiently support its independence from the executive; thus, appointments are sometimes based on political considerations, and individuals appointed may have clear party loyalties. Furthermore, in practice, the head of the agency is not protected from removal without relevant justification. According to Global Integrity 2010, the government usually ignores or gives superficial attention to the audit reports. The findings and recommendations of the agency are unknown to the public, not discussed in parliamentary debates, and often not implemented by the executive.

Integrated Financial Management System (SIGFE) is a system implemented by the government, with international assistance, to track all government revenues and expenditures at both national and local level. The SIGFE has been highlighted as a major step for government accountability and to fight corruption. However, according to the Human Rights Watch Transparency and Accountability in Angola 2010, SIGFE's efficiency as an anti-corruption measure could be questioned. According to the report, among others, a United States-based consultancy, Development Alternatives (DAI), has noted that there are serious problems with SIGFE, including the fact that government spending information by some agencies is not yet in SIGFE and could be subject to error, as well as lack of adequate reporting. Nor is the information in the SIGFE system public, so there is no way for Angolans to assess how the government uses public funds. Given this system's limitations, the report assesses that SIGFE cannot yet be seen to provide adequate tracking of expenditures, let alone to serve as an effective tool for combating corruption.

E-Governance: The government has established the Portal of the Republic of Angola (in Portuguese), where citizens and companies can access various forms and guidelines for obtaining public services. The government has also set up the Companies' Portal (in Portuguese), which functions as a one-stop shop for investors with the aim of simplifying the investment process and reducing registration times for companies. According to the World Bank & IFC Doing Business 2007-2008, the portal is directly responsible for reducing the time required to start a company in Angola by two months between 2007 and 2008. In addition, the World Bank & IFC Doing Business 2008-2009 reports that introduction of mandatory electronic filing of social security for companies with more than 20 employees has made it more convenient to pay taxes. Land administration has also been digitalised enabling faster procedures for transferring property.

Public Procurement: The Angolan government is still in the process of developing an e-procurement system (in Portuguese), where companies will be able to access information on public tenders and bidding opportunities. There are no reports on when the e-procurement system will be operational. Foreign investors should note that the Promotion of Angolan Private Entrepreneurs Law 2003 grants Angolan-owned companies preferential treatment in government tenders for goods and services as well as in public works contracts. In law, major procurements require competitive bidding, but no strict formal requirements limit the extent of sole sourcing, according to Global Integrity 2010. Unsuccessful bidders cannot ask for an official review of the bidding process but can challenge the concrete procurement decision in the courts. A significant problem within public procurement is the fact that the awarding of contracts in the oil sector suffers from low levels of transparency and, generally, competitive bidding is not adequately enforced in the Angolan public procurement regime. According to the Chr. Michelsen Institute 2007, the Angolan procurement regime needs major improvements and is considered a high-risk area for investors. In contrast, the African Development Bank Group 2008-2009 reports that some progress has been made in the oil bidding practices, and that the last bidding round for exploitation acreage in 2006 was praised internationally for its transparency in both the bidding and the awarding process. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of procurement processes could be questioned, as companies guilty of major violations of procurement regulations, including bribery, are not prohibited from participating in future procurement bids. Furthermore, the government is not required by law to publicly announce the results of procurement decisions, which, according to the World Bank, is not an indication of a transparent procurement system, as cited by Global Integrity 2010.

Whistle Blowing: According to Global Integrity 2010, no legislation protects whistleblowers from retaliation, neither in the public nor in the private sector.

General Comments on the Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives: Angola's legal and institutional anti-corruption framework is generally reported to be poor. Insufficient safeguards against corruption exist within the state apparatus, the lack of checks and balances have created an environment, where grand corruption thrives in the form of diversion of oil revenues and only few have been held accountable. However, a general trend towards more transparency regarding both the amount of oil revenue and the expenditure of state budget represents an encouraging development. Moreover, the existent institutional deficiencies, including in relation to anti-corruption mechanisms, need to be viewed in the light of the past civil war. On the other hand, the ruling party has penetrated the Angolan political system and public administration and critics describe it and its support network as largely self-interest and self-serving. Due to the politicisation of the judiciary, the Parliament and law enforcement agencies, a few public anti-corruption initiatives in Angola have proved effective in containing the country's high levels of corruption.