Wall of fame: Ketakandriana Rafitoson
Madagascar - Alumna 2014
We [Transparency International] need to raise and increase our voice on the global stage. Kleptocracy too often affects societies and, as what we can observe, this trend is not reversing
Biography
Dr Ketakandriana “Ke” Rafitoson is a Malagasy anticorruption and pro-democracy activist and independent researcher. She is the Executive
Director of Transparency International Madagascar, the Vice-Chair of Transparency International. She is also a member of the International Board of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) and sits within the Advisory Board of the African Women Anticorruption Network.
Ke is passionate about social justice and democracy. She has completed three Master degrees in International Relations, International Human Rights Law, and Population and Development, and also holds a PhD in Political Science from IEP Madagascar, and a second one in Sociology for Development from the Catholic University of Madagascar where she is also lecturing on local democracy and citizens engagement.
Ke co-founded several social movements in Madagascar (Liberty 32, Wake Up Madagascar, Women and Youth’s League for Democracy, etc.) and is a member of CIVICUS. Moreover, Ke is the volunteer National Coordinator of the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Madagascar coalition – fighting for a better governance of extractive industries – since 2020. She has been recognized as a Human Rights Defender at risk by FrontLine Defender since 2018 and has recently been welcomed as a correspondent of the “Akademia Malagasy”, Madagascar’s national academy of science, culture and arts.
Speaker’s corner
In 2014, when I was selected by the EU-Delegation in Antananarivo I was working as a legal adviser in the office of the national electricity provider in our country. I was also at the time (and am still) a pro-democracy activist advocating for the political empowerment of women and young people. I believe it was in this latter capacity that the EU-Delegation chose me for the EU Visitors Programme.
The EUVP visit was for me a game starter and a life changing experience. I was very pleased to attend the programme and to learn about how the EU functions. I got insight into the remits of competences of the European Commission and the European Parliament respectively and how policies are designed at EU level, and how we can engage and work with them from our countries.
The EUVP visit was also the occasion to discover the cultural dimension of Europe seeing that it was one of my first trips to this continent.
I did not let go of the occasion to maintain the network that I had founded during my EUVP visit and I kept a strong relationship with the EU-Delegation in Antananarivo in particular with whom I worked on a country level ever since. For instance, I am very proud of the fact that Transparency International Madagascar got some funding from the EU-Delegation to fight corruption in the health sector in 2018, followed by another grant in 2022, on social sectors. I am not saying that we secured those funding because of my EUVP participation but I hope that being alumna of the programme added some more credibility to our proposals.
I had met an array of young ambitious people in the margins of the EUVP programme and that in turn influenced my perception of what is feasible and what goals I could set for myself. Back in Madagascar I realized that I could make a difference too and strove for political change within my field of work at the time, namely towards a just energy transition.
Being the Executive Director of Transparency International Madagascar and the newly elected Vice-Chair of Transparency International global movement for the period 2023-2026, I anticipate the coming challenges as making a greater impact on the global arena.
I am still learning in the job as Vice-Chair of Transparency International; it implies a global role spanning 110 countries worldwide, and it requires an understanding of how corruption works in the different countries and regions of the world.
Secondly, widening my network on the international level with actors such as the World Bank and other international institutions would be crucial for obtaining tangible results. We need to raise and increase our voice on the global stage. Kleptocracy too often affects societies, and, as what we can observe, this trend is not reversing. My aim is to increase and build on our relationships on the global arena to make more influence and curb corruption at all levels.
I had only been working for Transparency International Madagascar for five years when I was first elected Board Member. I am very proud of this achievement in particular given that I represent the Global South and come from Madagascar which is currently the 5th poorest country in the world. Madagascar deserves to be placed on the world map, not only for its unique and secluded bio-diversity and is rich in minerals - the lemur and the Baobab tree being some of our greatest ambassadors – but also for its wonderful people who is courageously striving for freedom and democracy.
Keep your dreams alive and nurture them. Don’t give up. We all experienced how the Covid made us reflect on our way of living, and how it made the world shift to better and maybe more ecologic pathways. There is always a lesson to be learned from failure that’s why you shouldn’t fear it. Always strive to do better and do more of what makes you happy! Sky is the limit! 😊
The article was drafted on 14 December 2023.
The opinions expressed by the EUVP distinguished Alumni on the Wall of Fame do not necessarily reflect the official EU position.