Corruption charges

Rooting out corruption and the misappropriation of funds are catchphrases that are thrown about so frequently that they seem to have lost their punch. Hence, hearing about an official’s wrongdoing doesn’t cause the shock it once did years ago. Take the case of caretaker Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel. Three days into his new job, the minister had rung up a bill of Rs60,000 for just pots and pans. And then, shortly thereafter, he asked for six cars to be delivered to his home “within 15 minutes”, according to our report on April 20. The ministry obliged with two Toyota Hiluxes, one Toyota Altis, one Toyota Gli, one Toyota 2.OD and one Honda City. Mr Kakakhel is alleged to have also taken five more vehicles from the ministry of human resource. As if all this wasn’t enough, Mr Kakakhel is accused of protecting officials in the Overseas Pakistanis Fund who were found guilty of committing irregularities. These are all serious allegations that require the immediate attention of the caretaker prime minister who should conduct an investigation. Mr Kakakhel should be relieved of his duties if he is found guilty of committing any wrongdoing.

It is easy to point fingers at Mr Kakakhel when we know all too well that he is not alone in losing sight of his priorities — in this case, doing his job: governance. Ministers are entitled to perks and privileges but many abuse it or confuse it as entitlement. This environment of corruption — for that is what this ultimately is — invariably means that people are denied good governance. Pakistan continues to rank high for its corruption in Transparency International reports and it becomes harder to root it out because there seems to be no way to address this problem. As challenging and daunting a task as it appears, it needs to be tackled and the legal option is the best bet. Ministers must set examples for others to follow and lead austere lives; not ostentatious ones in a land where people are hungry and unemployed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2013.