Vanished presents: Our leaders and our gifts

The record shows that Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz jointly took away over 2,000 items gifted to Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan suffered a loss of Rs103 million because of the greed of its presidents and prime ministers, as well as civilian and military VIPs, on account of expensive gifts given to them by foreign dignitaries, between 1999 and 2009.

In most cases, these gifts, which rightly belonged to the state, were quietly palmed off after these dignitaries had their value assessed at next to nothing.

The actual value of these gifts, numbering 3,486 – including costly items such as diamonds, jewellery, gold, carpets, watches, rugs, swords, guns – was assessed at only Rs118 million by officials of the cabinet division. However, the VVIPs in question deposited into the government treasury no more than a total of Rs15 million for the entire lot, thus causing the country a loss of Rs103 milion.

In one case alone, Sehba Musharraf, wife of self-exiled retired General Pervez Musharraf, had taken a gold and diamond necklace set worth Rs6 million, gifted to her during one of the foreign visits to an Arab country, after paying a fraction of the actual price.

The details of the gifts received by General Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister Shaukat Aziz in particular, had appeared in the media some months ago. However, till now, no one knew the actual loss that was suffered by the state on this account.

The record now shows that General Musharraf and Aziz jointly took away more than 2,000 gift items after altering the relevant rules at least four times during their tenures.

The rules were changed so as to help these VVIPs pay next to nothing to retain these gift items. General Musharraf was even said to have stopped declaring his gifts during the last three years of his presidency. Interestingly, the cabinet division does not have a record of exact numbers of gifts he had received.

The total number of gifts received by Shaukat Aziz, which he took along with him to London, were more than 1,126. Aziz paid only Rs2.9 million to retain the gifts, which are worth Rs26 milion. Musharraf paid a paltry Rs5.1 million to retain gifts worth Rs33 million.

Musharraf and ex-prime ministers Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Ch Shujaat Hussain, Shaukat Aziz, as well as other top dignitaries, were the main beneficiaries of this practice. Out of a total of 3,486 foreign gifts during their respective tenures, only 447 items, all of no value at all and mostly souvenirs, were left with the Toshakhana of the cabinet division.

However, this practice is not only a thing of the past. Incumbents President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani too retained gifts given to them by hosts during their foreign trips. Zardari paid only Rs9.3 million to retain gifts worth Rs62 million. Figures pertaining to Gilani are not available with the cabinet division. No one knows how much he paid to retain the gifts he received during the first two years in the office of prime minister.

Published in The Express Tribune December 12^th, 2010.