Spring cleaning

In any country riddled with corruption there are periodic attempts by whatever the ruling party is to clean up. To break the means by which corruption sustains itself, to challenge corrupt practices and even remove from office some or all of those that have proved to be falling short. When these periodic clean-ups take place inside government offices or public institutions and men and women are removed from often lucrative posts they often, after a grace period where the dust settles, find themselves back in whatever positions maybe with a different job title, that they were removed from.

Bearing the above in mind we give a cautious welcome to reports that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is reported to have removed 23 officers from service on charges of misconduct and negligence and a further 32 others have been awarded penalties for various derelictions of duty. A NAB spokesman said that a total of 85 officers had been investigated as possibly meriting disciplinary action, and that these actions were taken on the direction of NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal. He, it is reported, is of the perception that if there is to be ‘Accountability for all’ then self-accountability is essential — a perception we are entirely in concert with.

Thus it is that the deputy director of NAB Lahore has been suspended with immediate effect, charged with inefficiency and negligence of his official duties. He is of course entitled to due process as is anybody so charged and he has the right to defend himself. The deputy director of NAB Sukkur has likewise been suspended, charged with misconduct and a formal inquiry constituted. These are big fish, not the minnows. They will have powerful friends and contacts deep into the systems that they work within. They will have helpful political friends as well.

It now remains to be seen whether the process that has been led from the top of NAB is of sufficient strength and durability to resist the pressures that will be brought to bear by those connected to those removed. If it is then this may be more than a purely cosmetic exercise.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2018.

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