Nowadays, corruption is recognized as a global problem which poses serious threat on the development of a country and its people. Corruption is an issue that affects all countries around the world. It can refer to the destruction of one’s honesty or loyalty through undermining moral integrity or acting in a way that shows a lack of integrity or honesty. It also refers to those who use a position of power or trust for dishonest gain.

The government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) clearly recognizes that corruption hinders development, democratization and good governance endeavors. Hence, it has been striving to prevent and combat this socio-economic evil by designing various strategies. The anti-corruption endeavor in Ethiopia is part and parcel of the major reform programs launched in 1996 at national level. Those political, economic, and social reforms were launched to enhance the overall development of the Country and to strengthen the democratization and good governance endeavors throughout the country.

The civil service reform program, which contained Ethics sub-program as one of its major components, was among those major reforms. The Ethics sub-program was mainly designed to tackle corruption, which is recognized as one of the world’s greatest challenges, improve service delivery and promote efficiency and effectiveness in the public service.

The Ethics sub-program showed the preceding need for the establishment of one central organ to deal with the issues of ethics, integrity and corruption. Hence, the Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission of Ethiopia (FEACC) was established in May, 2001, as part of the Ethics sub-program in order to tackle corruption at the federal level. The establishment of Regional Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commissions (REACCs) in the nine regions followed suit.