A prescription for corruption

The greatest problem is identification of the corrupt among the professionals and intellectuals. Corruption thrives when the governance system condones and connives; as leaders do not lead (with honesty), managers do not manage (dedicatedly) and intellectuals do not teach (dignity).

The noble notion of identifying a few good people and sending them to the national parliament is a daunting prospect. Most of the good people are said to be good in this country because they did not get the chance to get spoiled. How many people in our history have resigned when they were accused of notoriety, for example?

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Keeping the above in mind, a few suggestions have been given below. The axiom behind these suggestions is that corruption has become a part of our life and culture and politicians are too bent to straighten them up at this stage. It cannot be rooted out overnight with any magic wand. But punishable offences by the businessmen and intellectuals must be dealt with exemplarily.

Actions to be taken
1. Educate continuously through primary school (when the children are receptive) and university curricula (just before the graduates enter job market) and mass media about the deleterious effects of corruption on the economy and the social and spiritual environment of the people so that people look down on the corrupt, overtly or at least covertly, and/or avoid them publicly so that these people start feeling humiliated. (National curricula at each level also has to teach the next generation unflinching self respect and respect to the civil rights of others);

2. Introduce a system of awarding, publicly and attractively, through the Ministry of Establishment, the whistle blowers in every public office at upazila, district, and divisional levels. (It will be wise not to touch the national level at this stage; so that this is not opposed by the powerful ones who operate at the national level);

3. Create a constitutional post of ombudsman on corruption with statutory power and post a nationally voted person who will be the one to award prizes to the whistle blowers (when posted) and protect them legally and financially, if necessary. The ombudsman will also have the authority to sack a public official when it is recommended by an assessor committee;

4. Development partners may advocate and support the Chief Justice, in absence of an ombudsman, to commission research to understand the levels of occurrence, how it happens and the force behind. For manageability the most corrupt offices known publicly may be the point of departure. This information may be useful for the judicial system to initiate suo moto cases. Public information system, newspapers and journalists are expected to publicise these cases widely. Recent experience of reduction in corruption in Nigeria may be a useful;

5. Nationally acceptable persona, nominated by three or four second-rung political parties, may be selected/elected through some referendum, to be conducted electronically and managed by a group formed with representatives of the three or four most popular political parties, and the judicial system represented by the Chief Election Commissioner, and Chief of the Anti-corruption Commission. (The electronic system will be inaccessible to the illiterate and the poor but this is the price we have to pay at this stage);

6. A public body be formed with journalists, academicians, bureaucrats and technocrats who will be selected from the two largest political parties with equal numbers from each profession. It ought to be provided with funds to commission a research organisation, that would not include any Bangladeshi, to sort out corruption in academia in primary and university levels (to keep the job manageable) according to the type of corruption and the individuals involved .the respective high level governing authorities will use this information for rewards and sanctions on yearly basis for the next five years. If no action is taken then the head of the highest level of the governing authority will lose his job on recommendation of the body to the ombudsman or the chief justice;

7. Recruitment through the Public Service Commission will be made after investigation of ancestral history of a candidate, on corruption, besides others. If a false report by an investigator is unearthed at any time strict disciplinary measures shall be taken against both. If punitive actions are not taken then the ombudsman, or the anti-corruption commission, in the absence of the former, will sack all the involved people.

8. Any one who tries to influence the disciplinary procedures will have to be dealt with up front. Professional associations and politicians are frequent arm twisters. Journalists and newspapers must play a stronger counter-offensive role to silence these forces. Civil societies should come forward to publicise the dirty roles of these dark forces. Development partners need to strengthen these civil societies. One transparency international is not enough;

9. Public complaints system, tried in the past, always ended in failure. This is because nothing happened as a result of complaints. On the other hand, those who lodged complaints were endangered. If a trust-worthy environment is created, and the state mechanism is seen to be functional and effective, this strategy will engender extra strength in the move against corruption. A protocol however, would be required on the procedures; from how the complaint would be lodged, received, treated, processed to how it would be disposed off. A strong law will be necessary to conceal the identity of the complainer and ensure his safety in case the identity is revealed The role of Anti-Corruption Commission and/or Ombudsman on Corruption would be important in this regard;

10. Adopt a big IT project with training of public sector officials and establish local area network in all the public sector offices, starting with those that are incriminated as the most corrupt. Convert all the public sector offices into virtual no paper offices with links between desks through LAN system;

11. Corruption is always on the other side of the coin that describes rules and laws. There are rules and laws affecting everyday public life. These need to be publicised through the ombudsman's office or by the social welfare ministry in the present situation. There are rules and practices that are stupid and used by clever and tricky people to harass innocent people and for extortion. A study may be conducted by the social welfare department to find these so that they can be abolished. This will empower the affected ones and would initiate a culture of challenging the fake forces;

12. The only suggestion that is given at this stage on politicians is a system of declaration of assets, by those who would run for the parliament, one month before the national election.

A M Zakir Hussain is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.