NAB to continue performing ‘national duty’: NAB chairman

Chairman Qamar Zaman says NAB will continue to perform its national duty with professionalism and transparency

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has said that NAB will continue to perform its national duty with professionalism and transparency by adopting a zero tolerance policy towards financial misappropriation.

NAB’s anti-corruption strategy has started yielding positive dividends, he said, adding that they have nabbed many corrupt elements and recovered looted money from them. He said that the main focus of the accountability bureau is on cases relating to public cheating by fraudulent financial companies, and embezzlement of state funds by the government officials.

He said that the number of complaints, inquiries and investigations received by the NAB have doubled over the last three years compared to the same period preceding it. These figures are indicative of the hard work being put in by the NAB staff, where each official considers fighting corruption as their national duty, he said.



He said that NAB has rationalised its timelines for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases, putting a maximum limit of 10 months - from complaint verification to filing a reference to the accountability court.

NAB has also introduced a new system of Combined Investigation Team (CIT) to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers. This system is not only enhancing quality of the work but also ensuring that no single individual can influence the proceedings. He said that the implementation of the CIT has proved to be very successful in improving the overall prosecution of the case.

The chairman said that the apex anti-graft body is a role model for other regional countries. Pakistan is the first chairman of SAARC anti-corruption forum where it will chalk out collective plans to eliminate corruption from the region. NAB has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China to oversee corruption and ensure transparency in the projects pertaining to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

To create awareness against the negative effects of corruption among the youth of Pakistan, NAB had also signed a MoU with Higher Education Commission (HEC). As part of the program, over 42, 000 Character Building Societies (CBSs) had been established at different educational institutes across Pakistan. Apart from that, NAB has established its first forensic science lab in Rawalpindi. The forensic lab is equipped with digital forensics, questioned documents and fingerprint analysis.

The accountability bureau has constituted prevention committees tasked with identifying loopholes, suggest ways to plug those loopholes, and take measures for strengthening the regulatory mechanisms at federal and provincial levels.

Qamar said that the initiatives taken by the present management of NAB have started yielding dividends with its conviction ratio standing at 76 per cent.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2017.