Anti-corruption strategy has yielded results: NAB chief

Bureau has inked MoU with China to ensure transparency in CPEC projects

MULTAN: Eradication of corruption is top priority of the National Accountability Bureau. NAB has chalked out a proactive anti-corruption strategy which has proved very successful and has started yielding results.

This was said by NAB Chairperson Qamar Zaman Chaudhry while addressing the officers after two day annual inspection of NAB Multan Bureau on Friday.

The NAB chairperson said, “We have devised Partly Quantified Grading System (PQGS) to review and evaluate the performance of all NAB regional bureaus in order to know about their strengths and weaknesses.”

He said NAB had geared up to perform its national duty by adopting zero tolerance policy to eradicate corruption from the country. He emphasised upon NAB officers to double their efforts to arrest corrupt people and recover ill-gotten and looted money and deposit them in the national exchequer. He maintained during the tenure of the present management, NAB had recovered Rs45 billion in two-and-half years which was a remarkable achievement.

Qamar pointed out during the last 16 years, NAB received 3,26,694 complaints from individuals and private/public organisations. During this period, NAB authorised 10,992 complaint verification, 7,303 inquiries, 3,648 investigations, filed 2,667 corruption references in respective accountability courts and overall conviction ratio was 76%, he said.

He pointed out, “NAB’s prime focus is on cases of cheating public at large by fraudulent financial companies, bank frauds, willful bank loan defaults, misuse of authority and embezzlement of state funds by government servants.

He said NAB was a role model for SAARC Countries and had signed an MOU with China in order to eradicate corruption. “Under this MoU, Pakistan and China will ensure transparency in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2017.