Honesty, transparency, integrity vital to eradicating corruption

NAB chief says system of combined investigation team, investigation timeline introduced

Honesty, transparency and integrity are key to eradicating corruption anywhere and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is committed to rooting out corruption from the country by using all available resources.

This was stated by NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry while chairing a meeting at NAB headquarters, read a statement released by the bureau on Sunday.

Chaudhry pointed out that NAB had signed an agreement with China to streamline and structure cooperation in the field of anti-corruption.

In the context of CPEC, he said that this cooperation would further boost confidence in the projects undertaken in the country.

NAB, Chaudhry said, is the only anti-corruption organisation which has set a 10-month timeline for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases.

He said that NAB has also introduced a system of Combined Investigation Team (CIT) which aims to benefit from the collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers. The system, he said, not only lends quality to the work but also ensures that no individual can influence investigation proceedings.

He said that the concept of CIT had proved to be successful to improve the quality of inquiry and investigations and benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior officers.

Chaudhry emphasised that eradication of corruption was a national duty resulting in common wellbeing and that they were all together in eradicating corruption.

In order to raise awareness among the youth, he said NAB had established 45,000 Character Building Societies (CBS) in universities and colleges.

This initiative of NAB has proved very successful in order to make students aware about the ill effects of corruption. More and more universities and colleges are joining hands with NAB in its countrywide campaign against corruption and it is expected that this number should reach 50,000 at the end of this year.

He added that new initiatives taken by the NAB had been acknowledged by reputable organisations such as the PILDAT, which in its recent report noted that as many as 42 per cent of people trust NAB against 30 per cent for police and 29 per cent for government officials.

A recent report from Transparency International also improved Pakistan’s rating in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 126 to 116.

The World Economic Forum and Mishal Pakistan, according to Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum rated Pakistan from 126 to 122.

Moreover, Chaudhry said that Pakistan was a role model for SAARC countries in the eradication of corruption. In this regard, it was elected as the first chairman of SAARC Anti-Corruption Forum.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2017.