The institutional hitmen

Tragic part of this tendency of appointing hitmen is they pervade the system of not one but multiple organisations

The famous research of frogs in a boiling pan demonstrates the extent of damage. If a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, the likelihood is that it will jump out, but if it is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. This is also the comparison made for physical, economic and political hitmen. Murderers, terrorists and dacoits are known quantities, and over a period of time methods and systems are created to warn people to avoid and cope with their destruction. The economic and political hitmen are indirect operators who are so subtle and hidden in their operation that you only discover the destruction when it is too late.

John Perkins in his book Confessions of an Economic Hitman mentions in detail how US multinationals and loan agencies like the IMF and the World Bank destroy Third World countries. They work with corrupt governments by giving expensive loans and making US multinationals win mega project contracts, which bankrupt the countries making them political slaves. Iraq has been quoted as a prime example. Before Raymond Davis’s book Contractor, Raymond Baker’s book Capitalism’s Achilles Heel has talked about dirty money by dirty rulers and given plenty of examples of the mega project corruption during Benazir Bhutto’s and Nawaz Sharif’s rules.

These books talk about the external influence on the fate of politically and economically vulnerable countries. However, vulnerability is a choice that is made by the country itself, the leaders that it elects and the governance level it accepts. Governance good or bad is an outcome of how state and public service institutions perform. Performance poor or excellent is directly related with the system of merit and accountability prevailing in these institutions. Systems effective or ineffective are dependent on how they are respected and followed from top to bottom. Thus, the most effective strategy to make institutions ineffective is to hand it over to incompetent and shady people. Men in charge chosen through nepotism are institutional hitmen who spread the slow poison of non-transparency, demotivation and disengagement, finally leading to institutional demise.

There are abundant examples of toxic virus that has not only caused institutional devastation but has cost billions of rupees of losses at the expense of public funds. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is a tragedy of such hitmen who have ruthlessly gouged its credibility by appointing people whose sole intent is to serve self-interests. The latest hitman was the German CEO Bernd Hildenbrand who was appointed without security clearance and police verification from appropriate authority. Mr Hildenbrand’s qualifications and experience did not meet the criteria for the post as he was not even a graduate. It took the mega scam of the premier service PIA flight on exorbitantly leased planes from Air Lanka to remove him but not before Rs30 billion losses were added to the debt-ridden airline.



Unfortunately, these hits are not just financial but structural too, thus, creating huge vulnerabilities to sustain and perform. The State Bank has been one example of a state organisation that had in the past earned respect for its performance. Under the leadership of Dr Ishrat Husain, it became a case study of transformation as during the worldwide financial crisis of 2009 Pakistan’s banking sector shone due to the bank’s effective performance as its regulator. However, the virus of cronyism has created dents in its performance. The latest being the appointment of Saeed Ahmad as deputy governor. The fact that he simultaneously held four posts, including the chairman of the House Building Finance Corporation and Zarai Taraqiati Bank, was a clear violation of laws and conflict of interest.

Similarly, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has become mired in controversy. An institution that is supposed to be a check on governance of companies has been allegedly hiding and facilitating record tampering done for those who appoint them. The impact on the organisation’s culture of such acts is deadly. Officers are being blamed for it, who in turn show official communication of harassment to follow orders creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty which will result in institutional paralysis. Another example is the Pakistan Post Office (PPO) that has become uncompetitive and is now a bidding auction between land mafias as 625 properties of PPO are now encroached, owned and used by land grabbers with political affiliations.

The tragic part of this tendency of appointing hitmen is that they pervade the system of not just one but multiple organisations. Firstly, because of greed and secondly, because of need. When you infiltrate, the system of an organisation, associated organisations need to be aligned to create the shared vision of destruction. Take the example of the recent appointment of Tariq Mahmood Pasha as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chief. He is also the assistant adviser to finance minister and the Economic Advisory Division secretary. What justice can be done to three jobs is not hard to predict. That is why these institutions have become a mockery, as the FBR has failed year after year to achieve its targets. Similarly, the State Bank has now been questioned for its data authenticity and autonomy by global institutions.

Like the frog in the tepid water, these institutions rot the structure and system to a level where their eventual demise is just a matter of time. Without institutional reforms, the major beneficiaries will be the absconders. And perhaps, after Raymond Baker and Raymond Davis, a Raymond Harris who will become a multi-millionaire by publishing Confessions of an Institutional Hitman.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2017.

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