THE Director General of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Dr Edward Hoseah, has been appointed the member of the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption from January 2013.

The appointment was confirmed at a meeting that took place on January 28, 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 28th meeting of Heads of Member states.

This is the second time that Dr Hoseah has been appointed as member of the board, whose main agenda is to advise and manage corruption issues in African Union member countries. The Board's Headquarters is in Arusha, Tanzania.

Dr Hoseah was chosen to be a member of the board for the first time in a meeting held on January 29, 2011 and he was also appointed as the board's chairman for one year. Other members of the board are from Ethiopia, Cote d'lvoire, Ghana, Togo, Burundi, Libya, Mali, Benin, Congo and Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Tanzanian Ambassador to Belgium, Dr Diodorus Kamala, has been elected as the chairman of African ambassadors in Belgium. Ambassador Kamala has taken over the chairmanship from the Swaziland Ambassador to Belgium, Mr Joel Nheleko, who has completed his term.

Tanzania will hold the position for six months, until July 1, 2013. "This is a great honour to me and Tanzania in general, I will use this opportunity to get to know other ambassadors and to use this chance to draw economic opportunities to Tanzania," Ambassador Kamala explained.

At the same time, on Monday, Ambassador Kamala was chosen to be the chairman of Ambassadors of five countries around Lake Tanganyika Basin. The five countries around Lake Tanganyika Basin are Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Tanzania.

By this appointment, Ambassador Kamala will coordinate and find donor grants for development plans around the basin. The development plans include construction of roads, rail, promote tourism and airports in Mbala in Zambia, Bujumbura in Burundi, Kigoma in Tanzania and Kisanga and Kalemie, in DRC.