Awareness and prevention of corruption

Having defeated the vestiges of the Mughal Empire during the failed 1857 War of Independence, the British created a ‘loyal elite’ by adopting a clear policy of rewarding loyalists and punishing recalcitrant elements. While the British were themselves progressing towards fine-tuning a parliamentary form of democracy while retaining monarchy, they fostered and promoted feudalism in British India. To strengthen their imperial reign with a ‘divide and rule’ policy, the British deliberately promoted corruption and nepotism on a colossal scale among their native subjects in South Asia.

Sadly, the legacy has continued in Pakistan after independence, the only country in the world where feudalism is not only alive and well but actually flourishing. These feudal lords, numbering, perhaps, only a few thousand, have benefited from their corrupt agenda to rule over Pakistan since inception and have colluded to deprive the poor of their most basic rights such as education, food and shelter. Consider the present status of local governments; they have not existed in any of the provinces for four years. There is substantial apathy among the masses, with no awakening among the poor and the status quo is, unfortunately, maintained.

Having become endemic, corruption has permeated all levels of government and society; no structure, no tier and no office of the public sector remains immune to it. Becoming commonplace vices, bribery and corruption take place because people either have no knowledge about the laws and therefore do not and cannot raise the issue or blow the whistle, or they accept it as a fait accompli because of the all-encompassing nature of corruption. Moreover, the feudal nature of our society encourages this.

Created in 1999, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is Pakistan’s primary anti-corruption organisation, responsible for eliminating corruption from society through comprehensive approaches and initiatives, utilising the elements of awareness, prevention and enforcement. NAB initiated the National Anti-Corruption Strategy project in 2002, its long-term aim being to engage all stakeholders in the fight against corruption. A corruption prevention policy must communicate how an organisation will manage the issues of corrupt ‘conduct’ and ‘corruption’ prevention. The responsibility of raising the awareness and educating the public on all types of corruption lies on all the stakeholders, government institutions, the private sector as well as NGOs and the media. NAB has been using many mediums of interaction and collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders to achieve these objectives.

Inheriting a number of high-profile cases from its predecessor, the defunct Ehtesab Bureau, NAB has had quite a bumpy ride but its track record on achieving success in cases against corruption is, by far, the best. Being the only effective accountability forum in the country and performing against odds, it has been able to achieve many of its targets. It would also not be wrong to surmise that it enjoys a much higher level of public confidence than other agencies. NAB’s prevention and awareness campaign has also had good success so far. Under previous regimes, the NAB Awareness and Prevention Division investigated and intervened in 509 projects which saved the national exchequer possible losses of more than Rs300 billion. NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry acknowledged this by saying that while law enforcement was a way of dealing with past crimes, prevention tackles imminent cases of corruption, whereas awareness eradicates the prospect of future crimes.

This might not be an accurate assessment from the enforcement point of view but from the perspective of corruption, awareness and especially prevention, this will hold good. There is thus a clear need to build expertise in these two areas. NAB cannot do this alone and it needs the support of society and state institutions. Political will is also most essential to curb this menace. Only an aware and enlightened public, a representative and clean parliament, a strong and responsible media and honest implementation of the laws can ensure that the corrupt fail to sustain themselves wherever they may be.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2013.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.