Preventing corruption

All political parties in Bangladesh talk about combating corruption. In reality, nothing is done. In the lead-up to the eighth parliamentary election, all parties pledged their commitment to combating corruption. However, none of them discussed how to achieve that goal. The two leading political parties of the country have included the creation of an independent Anti-Corruption Commission in their manifestos. From the statements of the political parties it can be easily deduced that corruption has been identified as a prime national concern and that the existing institutions have failed to address this problem.

In a seminar organised by the Bangladesh Economic Association, in a paper by Prof. Abul Barkat, it was said that during the last three decades only 25 per cent of the total aid flow actually reached those deserving it, while 75 per cent was misappropriated in different ways, (25 per cent by foreigners, 30 per cent by bureaucrats of the country, politicians, commission agents, consultants, and contractors, and 20 per cent by the urban and village elites). The World Bank in its research titled Corruption in Bangladesh: Costs and Cures stated that Bangladesh could attain additional 2-3 per cent GDP growth and per capita income would double if corruption could be controlled. Moreover various donors and international agencies have cited Bangladesh as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. Poor governance is the underlying problem. It creates an environment in which corruption will flourish. Prevention must concentrate on eliminating the problem and not dealing with the symptoms. Consequently a corruption prevention strategy is inextricably woven into the issue of good governance. The benefits of a good governance strategy will include the reduction of fraud, inefficiencies, and inequities, as well as corruption.

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Prevention is better than cure and so most developed countries concentrate efforts on prevention. However, in Bangladesh there is a clear case of having too many rules and regulations with too little enforcement -- rules are used or abused to further personal interests. Political interference is a major hindrance in the prevention of corruption in Bangladesh. It should be noticed that no charges are usually brought against any person affiliated with the ruling party. The Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) is the foremost among the agencies engaged in combating corruption in Bangladesh. But the Bureau cannot take independent action on charges brought against members of the ruling party. This is because prior permission has to be obtained from the Prime Minister's office. Since the year 1991, BAC has filed cases against prominent people including ministers, MPs, former secretaries, and a few senior officials of the autonomous bodies. After completing enquiries, charge-sheets for the filed cases had been submitted to the concerned courts, however, most of the cases have not yet completed trial. Because important accused persons have filed writ/revision in the Honourable High Court and as a result the investigation/trial of the particular case has been stopped. It is worth noticing that as a new party assumes office charges are brought against ministers/MPs of the previous government and the cases filed against their own ministers/MPs previously are withdrawn. So, it is clear that political interference holds back BAC from running smoothly.

Legal complications and long bureaucratic processes delay the enquiry and investigation process. Beside this, lack of proper planning at the enquiry/investigation, disruptive transfer of officials involved in investigation, stay or suspension order of the court, renowned lawyer presenting the defendant, submission of weak charge-sheet, irresponsibility of the PPs and their weak conduct of cases, lack of witnesses, incapability of the enquiry/ investigation officials, and interference from various quarters prolong the settlement of cases. So, the condition of BAC can be described as having to swim with its hands tied. Even then, 50 per cent of the general corruption cases ended in conviction, which shows that BAC can work successfully if it is given more freedom to work independently. To make BAC an effective organisation to combat corruption, the Anti-Corruption Act of 1957 needs to be applied properly.

In these circumstances, establishing an independent Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is a must to prevent and check corruption in Bangladesh. The ACC should be a modern, high-performing, independent government agency working with other bodies to fight corruption in Bangladesh. Its function should be to investigate and prosecute offenders, prevent corruption, and educate the people of Bangladesh about fighting, reducing and preventing corruption. The ACC should be given the freedom, power and resources it needs to do the job. It should function in accordance with the rule of law and should act in an impartial, transparent and fair manner.

The public sector organisations within Bangladesh also need to develop an effective corruption prevention strategy. Corruption in Bangladesh is deeply entrenched and systemic. Social and economic systems are heavily inter-related and inter-dependent, and consequently a corruption prevention strategy for a particular organisation cannot ignore the external factors that affect the organisation's ability to deliver its objectives, and this is a particular constraint on organisations operating within Bangladesh. The success of an organisation's fraud and corruption prevention plan will therefore depend upon the existence of a national institutional framework, which minimises the potential corruption, and promotes cooperation and coordination between agencies.

Having determined that fraud and corruption are significant potential risks, the organisation can then develop a specific anti-corruption strategy, establish a mechanism to oversee the strategy and identify detailed anti-corruption techniques. The steps required to develop an effective corruption prevention strategy for a public sector organisation are thus: develop a National Integrity Strategy, institute adequate internal control systems, develop a fraud and corruption control strategy, enhance fraud and corruption prevention and investigation skills, and increase awareness and education.

A national integrity strategy is an umbrella approach, which will identify systemic weakness across all the institutions, which make up the social and economic infrastructure of the country. The strategy will include thorough plans to reduce or eliminate these weaknesses, through structural changes, legislation, procedures, enforcement, and prevention measures. Internal control is a management tool used to provide reasonable assurance that management's objectives are being achieved. The head of each government organisation must ensure that a proper internal control structure is instituted, reviewed, and updated to maintain its effectiveness.

The organisation should develop a fraud and corruption prevention strategy as a clearly identifiable instrument at the policy level. It should be comprehensive and cover all areas of operations. The strategy must be tailored to the internal and external operating environment of the organisation, the nature of its business and the types of fraud and corruption it is exposed to. All staff should be involved in the development of the strategy. It should be regularly reviewed and updated as necessary. Moreover, the organisation must demonstrate that it will not tolerate fraud or corruption, and maintains the highest standards of ethical behavior.

This attitude must be clearly communicated to all relevant stakeholders, including staff, clients, suppliers and the general public in the form of a statement of ethical standards. Staff, customers and suppliers must contribute to the fraud and corruption strategy and feedback must be encouraged in order to identify improvements in operational practices. Staffs should be given reasonable salary and other facilities so that they don't engage themselves in corruption or bribery. For example, police department in Bangladesh are said to be one of the most corrupt sectors. It is because the staffs are not given adequate salary and facilities. So civil service salaries should be reviewed regularly to ensure that they are adequate.

Besides this public awareness is very important to prevent corruption. Individuals should be aware of the bad effects of corruption. Hypocrisy and selfishness should be rooted out from our national characteristics. People should raise their voice against corruption and come out of the box to fight it.

In Bangladesh there is no system of witness protection. Most witness will not come forward if they are afraid of retaliation from criminal elements. Bangladeshi criminal procedure permits confidentiality for informants. This does not help informants whose identity is easily ascertainable or whose testimony is required. So, a witness protection system is necessary to prevent corruption.

There is widespread disappointment with the pace of development in Bangladesh since independence and while there are many constraints on economic growth, corruption is undoubtedly a major factor. The image of Bangladesh has suffered somewhat as a result of the publication of a number of reports regarding corruption. However, the good news is political leaders have shown increasing awareness of the need to curb corruption, recognising a mandate in the growing public calls for action. There is now a clear public need and demand for the establishment of an independent agency to combat corruption and to provide it with the teeth it needs to be effective. In the end it can be said that the commitment of political leaders to fight corruption, appropriate application of the Anti-Corruption Act 1957, an efficient agency that is effective in investigating the corrupt, and finally, the support of general people from all walks of life are the measures to prevent corruption in Bangladesh.

Azmarina Tanzir is a 2nd year honours student in the Department of English, University of Dhaka.