National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal on Sunday called for collective efforts to eradicate corruption to leave behind a prosperous Pakistan for future generations.
In a statement, he said that the accountability watchdog is determined to eradicate corruption under its ‘Accountability for All’ policy.
He defined corruption as any dishonest or unethical method used by a person entrusted with authority for personal gains. This, he added, includes bribery and embezzlement, which not only affects the national economy, but also degrades the standard of living and social justice.
“If a country wants to achieve sustained socioeconomic development with healthy foreign investment, corruption must be eliminated at all costs,” he added.
Justice (retd) Iqbal said that Pakistan is currently facing challenges that stem from corruption. He drew a comparison between developing countries and developed countries, emphasising that the latter took sustainable measures.
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He also said that money laundering, corruption, misuse of authority, illicit assets and cheating the public are among the main challenges. He added that even Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah warned the nation about this in his first-ever address. “That really is a poison, we must put it down with an iron hand,” he further said.
The NAB chief said that the anti-graft body has been actively engaging all stakeholders in the fight against corruption. He said that it is pursuing a three-pronged strategy of ‘awareness, prevention and enforcement’ to weed out corruption.
He added that NAB has recovered Rs539 billion over the past few years, and has also established character-building societies in universities and colleges to create awareness in the next generation.
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