Legislation: Benin ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption in October 2004 and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption in September 2007. Benin lacks specific corruption legislation; however, corruption is criminalised in Beninese legislation by Articles 166 to 183 of the Criminal Code, in the Criminal Procedures Code and in Articles 35 and 37 of the Beninese Constitution (in French). In August 2011, the Beninese parliament passed a new anti-graft bill. According to an August 2011 article by Afrique Avenir, the law binds the country's top authorities, civil servants, central directors of the administration, project managers and accountants of any public body to disclose their assets when assuming and leaving office. The following are considered offences: attempted corruption, extortion, active and passive bribery, bribing a foreign official, using public resources for private gain, using confidential state information for private gain and money laundering. Benin is a party to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), and money laundering is criminalised in UEMOA's Directive on the Fight Against Money-Laundering 2002 (in French) and Directive on the Fight Against Financing of Terrorism 2007 (in French). Access the Lexadin World Law Guide for a collection of legislation in Benin (in French).

Government Strategies: President Yayi Boni has publicly announced that the fight against corruption is a top priority of his administration. He has, for instance, installed a toll free line linked directly to the presidency providing a means for citizens to report corruption whenever witnessed in their everyday lives. Various initiatives have been adopted, such as a law creating an official code of conduct for governmental management and the establishment of the General Inspection of the Government in 2006 and the financial intelligence unit, the Cellule Nationale de Traitement des Informations Financières (CENTIF), in March 2009. Benin's government takes part in the regional efforts to fight money-laundering and several workshops organised by the Intergovernmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) have been held in Benin. In 2007, a National Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Survey (in French) was produced in cooperation with civil society organisations and the World Bank. The survey was followed up by workshops also attended by CSO's and journalists, aiming at identifying constraints and opportunities for governance reform as well as ways to enhance the role of the media in promoting good governance. The results of the workshops are to be implemented in a National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which has not been presented as of August 2010. International observers have deemed Benin's anti-corruption efforts successful, while the local anti-corruption agency, l'Observatoire de Lutte contre la Corruption (OLC), assessed in the beginning of 2010 that corruption had worsened in the recent years.

Anti-Corruption Agency: Observatoire de Lutte contre la Corruption (OLC, in French) is the legal agency with the mandate to address corruption and it has jurisdiction to intervene wherever corruption is observed. Among other duties, the agency is responsible for producing each year a White Paper on the state of corruption in Benin. The agency includes representatives of the state, civil society and the private sector. It was established in 2004 and has legal authority as well as financial and functional autonomy. According to Global Integrity 2006, the agency is effective and professional and it is protected from political interference. However, critics are concerned that the OLC's independence may be limited by lack of financial resources and understaffing (read more in the World Bank Observatory for the Fight Against Corruption Report).  OLC has carried out several activities to raise awareness of corruption among the population and civil servants, such as conducting workshops on the code of conduct for governmental management, training for ministry officials on transparency in public administration as well as training for judicial personnel on the UNCAC and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. Limitations in the efforts of the OLC can be traced in the US Department of State 2010 report which notes that in January 2010, the president for the NGO front for National Anti-Corruption Organizations (FONAC) pointed out 32 corruption cases stretching from 2006 to 2009 and involving civil servants. An investigation conducted by the FONAC at the Ministry of Civil Service found that these cases were left unresolved and that no sanctions were applied. 

National Union of Magistrates (Union Nationale des Magistrats du Bénin, UNAMAB): The UNAMAB works to defend the professional interests of its members as well as the independence of the judiciary. The union makes studies and gives recommendations on good governance in the judicial system. The UNAMAB has been granted the status of extraordinary member of the International Association of Judges.

Office of the Ombudsman (in French): The office of the Ombudsman was first established in February 2006 by the Decree 2006-417 that designated the responsibilities, organisation and functioning of the Presidential Board of Meditation. In August 2009, the Law 2009-22 (in French) was passed as the legal basis for the activities of the Ombudsman (le Médiateur de la République du Benin). The Ombudsman's office is an independent authority. It handles complaints from citizens against the public administration and gives recommendations to the President with regard to the functioning of public institutions. The Ombudsman is appointed by the President for a five-year term and cannot be removed from the office except in cases of serious misconduct stated by the Supreme Court. The office of the Ombudsman regularly issues reports on its activities, which are available on the office's website.

Auditor-General: The General Inspection of the Government (l'Inspection Générale de l'Etat, IGE) was established in 2006 by the Decree 2006-319 (in French) and succeeded the former Public Life Moralisation Unit (in French). It is the supreme audit institution. The IGE is a state body placed under the authority of the President. It coordinates the other inspection and monitoring bodies, such as the General Inspectorate for Finance (IGF). IGE's mission is to investigate and monitor public services, national and local public bodies and other structures receiving public financial assistance, such as state-owned enterprises and to inform the President of barriers to good governance and sound management of public resources and to give recommendations with regard to the fight against corruption. Several local observers note that the IGE is not capable of performing its mandate and that the agency is used by the President for political purposes. According to the US Department of State 2010, public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. The report further notes that there does not exist any law that provides the public access to government information and that it was unclear whether demands for such access were granted.

E-governance: Benin does not yet have an integrated platform for e-governance, but several public institutions provide online services. On the website of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (in French), application forms for starting up a company are available, and the website of the Government of Benin provides information on public tenders. However, this part of the website does not seem not to be regularly updated.

Public Procurement: Procurement procedures are regulated by the Code of Ethics of the Public Procurement Act (in French), but Beninese procurement law is generally assessed to be weak. The government has created a Public Procurement Verification Commission, which also includes a number of civil society watchdog organisations, such as FONAC (see 'Private Anti-Corruption Initiatives' in the Initiatives section). Despite attempts by politicians to circumvent the commission's decisions in procurement cases, the commission has resisted such political pressure. According to Global integrity 2006, under the law, companies found guilty of major violations of procurement regulations, such as bribery, are prohibited from participating in future procurement bids, however, they are not always effectively enforced in practice. 

Whistle Blowing: According to Global Integrity 2006, public and private sector employees reporting cases of corruption have no legal or practical protection from recrimination or other kind of negative consequence.

General Comments on the Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives: Benin's legislative framework criminalises corruption and guarantees an independent judiciary. However, in general, corruption laws in Benin are out-dated and many of them are not applied in practice. The institutional set-up for fighting corruption is quite well established, but these institutions are themselves frequently criticised for being politicised and subject to corruption. This is true for the judiciary and the police and for numerous other political-administrative structures.