Training and induction: ‘Headless’ NAB inducts fresh blood

But NAB cannot take up corruption cases until a chief is appointed.

ISLAMABAD:

Unable to initiate any new corruption cases or reopen existing ones without a chief, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) gained new vigour on Friday with the induction of 268 new Investigation Officers (IOs) into its ranks.

These investigation officers joined the country’s top accountability watchdog in a graduation ceremony held at the President House. It is the first time that such a large number of women have become investigation officers. They also secured the majority of the first ten positions, bagging two of the top three positions in the training course.

However, not all of the graduating officers would be able to join the already over-stretched investigation team of the bureau until its chairman is appointed.



NAB’s Deputy Chairman Rear Admiral (retd) Saeed Ahmed Sargana admitted that the bureau was only pursuing the cases initiated during the tenure of the last chairman.

“There is no doubt that the national accountability ordinance (NAO) empowers only the chairman to take notice of fresh cases and initiate actions against the accused,” he said. “NAB cannot initiate any graft case until a chairman is appointed or the NAO is amended.”

The NAB’s deputy chief referred to corruption cases against former President Asif Ali Zardari to give an example. “I have no authority to re-open or initiate corruption cases against anyone, including the former president.”



However, he said a wrong impression was being given that the bureau was sitting idle without a chief. NAB investigators are rigorously pursuing cases that were initiated earlier, Admiral Sargana added, while speaking to the graduating officers and journalists.

NAB for the last few years was working on 50 per cent of its sanctioned workforce. In 2012, it received 9,353 complaints. It authorised 978 inquiries out of which 327 have been finalised. Meanwhile, 65 cases were converted into court references and 586 are under process.

“Sixty-eight out of the 397 pending investigation cases have been finalised through Voluntary Return (VR) or Plea Bargain (PB),” said Admiral Sargana. He added that 17 cases were closed as prosecutable evidence was unavailable, while 232 are still under process. NAB succeeded in recovering Rs25 billion in VR and PB.

It was the first time that NAB investigation officers went through formal training before joining the active service. The deputy chairman said the new officers were inducted through a merit-based transparent process in BPS-16 and a higher grades. “They underwent seven months of rigorous training conducted by the local as well as foreign faculty,” he explained.

At the graduating ceremony, President Mamnoon Hussain distributed medals and certificates among the position holders of the sixth investigator’s basic course. “To combat the menace of corruption, the role of investigators becomes more critical and crucial. I would also take this opportunity to remind you that an investigation officer should be thorough and impartial,” President Hussain advised the graduating officers.

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