Power rentals

It is important that the investigation into the RPP affair be conducted openly and transparently.

The Rental Power Project (RPP) issue, which reared up again and again during the tenure of the previous government, will naturally not disappear any time soon. Indeed the allegations of illegal contracts being awarded, millions banked as a result by individuals and of power plants that have failed to cough up even a watt of electricity certainly needs to be investigated. Beyond the issue of corruption, we also have the question of what we have lost as a nation due to the energy crisis and the inept efforts to tackle it. It seems possible personal gain was put ahead of national interest.



The National Accountability Bureau has been investigating the RPP accusations for some time. Now, at a meeting headed by its recently appointed Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, the body has decided to move a supplementary reference against former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, in the Naudero-II power plant case. Ashraf is, of course, very closely associated in most minds with massive wrongdoing in the RPP affair, most notably during his tenure as minister for water and power. It is thus, of course, important that he be made to answer the multiple charges made against him. These have, of course, also come up in the Supreme Court. In a country repeatedly labelled as among the most corrupt in the world by more than one agency, it is indeed crucial we set good precedents that can perhaps, act as reminders to others who hold influence that their actions will be noted. Corruption at the top echelons of power also opens up the doors for petty corruption and this makes it all the more imperative that it be tackled.

Having said this, in the context of the manner in which various accountability bodies set up by governments have acted in the past, it is also important the investigation into the RPP affair be conducted openly and transparently. There should be as few doubts as possible, so that the delicate matter of holding the powerful accountable for their actions can be tackled effectively and kept as free of controversy and doubt as is possible under our given circumstances.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2013.

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