Against corruption: NAB officials told to redouble anti-graft efforts

Chairman says anti-graft body committed to rooting out corruption

ISLAMABAD: The country’s top anti-graft body chief has asked his subordinates to redouble their efforts in eliminating the menace of corruption from society.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry said the bureau has been doing a daunting and specialized task to rid the society of corruption. He issued these directives to NAB officials during a meeting held at the NAB’s headquarters here on Monday to review the bureau’s progress.

Transparency International’s (TI’s) in a recent report hailing Pakistan’s performance in curbing corruption was a great achievement for the bureau, acknowledging the efforts of his officers.

The TI in a recent report has ranked Pakistan at 117 in 2015 from 126 during the previous year in Corruption Perception Index (CPI), showing nine-point improvement.

“We have to redouble our efforts to come up to the expectations associated with the NAB but I must bring it to the fore that the hard work and commitment shown by NAB officials towards their national duty was matchless,” he told the meeting, according to a press release issued here on Monday.



The chairman said that NAB has prosecuted several corrupts and recovered Rs265.977 billion looted money since its inception which was also a great achievement. In 2015, NAB recovered Rs4.5 billion of the looted money.

An increase in the number of complaints filed with the bureau was reflective of people’s confidence in its work.

“The litmus test of the efficiency and effectiveness of NAB’s efforts lies in the number of cases processed,” he said.

Youths are our future and NAB has decided to involve them to raise voice against corruption and suggest ways to plug loopholes and improve the regulatory mechanism of federal and provincial governments for transparency, fair play and supremacy of merit.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2016.