Good governance: Don’t buckle under pressure, judge tells NAB officers

Says officers should not give in to external pressure which mars the watchdog’s trustworthiness.

ISLAMABAD:

Officers in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) have, in some cases, succumbed to external pressure thereby failing to recover illegally amassed wealth, said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Thursday.

In an address to NAB district officers at the Supreme Court building in Islamabad, he said: “Although the NAB has succeeded in recovering certain amounts from the looters and plunderers of public exchequer, in the recent past, it has failed to perform its functions …..especially where persons in the echelons of power were involved.”

The NAB was formed under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, with a view to eradicating corruption and corrupt practices by holding accountable all those persons accused of such practices, he reminded the audience.

Therefore, giving in to external influence endangers the watchdog’s trustworthiness.

The chief justice’s address to NAB officers comes just when the government and the opposition are in a deadlock over who they should pick as next NAB chief after previous occupant Admiral Fasih Bokhari was sent packing by the Supreme Court.



The chief justice told officers that bureaucracy was the engine of good governance – as it is expected to ensure continuity of policies, political order, stability, uphold rule of law, promote economic development and cultural cohesion.

“Its major failure is in its inability to promote welfare, development, equity and provide justice to the citizens. Regrettably though, corruption, inefficiency, absence of accountability and resistance to change are the manifestation of bureaucracy,” he maintained.

The NAB is a public organisation established for the purpose of placing a check on economic terrorism by carrying out investigation and raising awareness. The watchdog, which has four regional offices in provincial capitals, overlooks offences that come under the National Accountability Ordinance.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2013.