Throwing the net wide on corruption
By MAIKA BOLATIKI
Fiji Sun Political Editor
It is reassuring to see that the Government of the day is realistic in its moves to eradicate corruption We must not forget that one of the major reasons the military forcefully removed the democratically elected Laisenia Qarase-led Government was corruption.There is no doubt that corruption has been rife in Fiji's civil service and this is a great shame. Some civil servants who have engaged themselves in corrupt practices are now sitting on hot seats as the Interim Government moves in with its newly formed anti-corruption unit.But Fiji is not unique in this regard. Corruption exists in all countries.
It is both a major cause and a result of poverty around the world, at all levels of society, from government, civil society and judiciary functions to the military and other services. And the impact of corruption in developing countries, especially on the poorer members of their societies is even more tragic.
At a joint annual general meeting between the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1996, James Wolffensohn said: "Corruption is a problem that all countries have to confront. Solutions, however, can only be home-grown. National leaders need to take a stand."
It is a fact that previous governments worked tirelessly to eradicate corruption.Even though they had made some progress, it still existed.To wipe out corruption, the Government will require enormous political resolve.
No one supports corruption.The ousted prime minister is on record as saying that there is no room for corrupt people in the civil service.In his contribution to the 2007 Budget debate in Parliament last year, Mr Qarase said the annual reports from the Auditor-General brought shame to the entire service and to the Government. "There is shame, too, in the amount of corruption that continues to surface - not just in the civil service, but in the private sector as well," he said. "I welcome the PSC's more proactive approach to stamping this out among public servants.
This will be given more teeth by an anti-corruption law cleared by Cabinet for introduction into Parliament. Also coming through the system are a Freedom of Information Bill and one covering standards of leadership. Both of these will have an important role in turning back corruption."The Qarase Government was totally against corruption and it is sad that it was not given more time to confront and deal with it.
The Interim Government, led by Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, is against corruption and has vowed to wipe it out before returning power to a democratically elected government.They know the task at hand will not be easy. But they have been mandated by the President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo to tackle corruption at all levels of Government.
To begin the work against corruption, the Interim Government has, time and again, stressed good governance.This is something they want instilled in all Government ministries and departments and it must be upheld by all workers.
The Interim Minister of Finance, Mahendra Chaudhry, while presenting the revised 2007 Budget said:"Government is concerned with incidences of abuse and corruption, which have cost our taxpayers and the economy significantly in wasted resources,deteriorating services and lost development opportunities.One of the key agendas of this Government is to weed out corruption by minimising opportunities to engage in such behaviour."
The measures outlined by Mr Chaudhry are as follows: We are establishing the new Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption with powers to investigate corruption and report directly to His Excellency the President. Additionally, a special unit has been set up in the Ministry of Finance to carry out investigations on all allegations of abuse of public funds identified by the Independent Commission.
The special unit will be equipped with competent and experienced auditors who will be empowered to visit agencies unannounced, conduct spot checks, and prepare timely audit reports. The new unit will complement the role of the existing Internal Audit Unit under the Ministry of Finance.
While the Internal Audit Unit will focus on regulatory audits, the Special Audit Unit will focus on performance audits and identify preemptive measures to prevent abuse before it occurs and ensure that the value of public expenditure is maximized.
Large capital projects will be regularly monitored to ensure that disbursal of funds is matched with physical progress. Engineering expertise will be engaged to independently check cost estimates against engineering designs for each project and to validate project implementation against fund disbursement. This is necessary where large capital projects are concerned.
Our commitment to principles of good governance is shown in our support of those agencies which uphold these. In 2007, the Office of the Auditor General will receive $2.9 million. The office of the Ombudsman, together with the Fiji Human Rights Commission, is allocated $1.4million. Further, $12.1 million is provided to the Judiciary.The Interim Government now has the resources to carry out its work against corruption.
I know there will be more investigations carried out by appointed teams into various Government ministries and department activities.However, a concern to be raised is the credibility of those appointed.
A suggestion from some concerned people is that we need total independence and overseas experts must be used. Transparency must at all times be prioritized during selection.The Interim Government must be mindful of the fact that domestic politics contributes enormously to the success or failure of any effort to reduce or eradicate corruption.
Vested interests need to be explicitly recognized and understood The Government must involve the citizens in fighting corruption. While we support the move to eradicate corruption, people appointed to carry out this task must have a clear police record.They must not be involved in any form of corrupt practices in whatever task they have been involved with.
If an official is already corrupt, it will be difficult to conduct investigations on reported allegations and the truth will remain hidden. It is a fact that, if any of the officials had been engaged in some of form of corrupt practice, he or she can be easily tempted.We must acknowledge the fact that corrupt officers investigating a high-level corrupt case can easily be tempted by bribes.
Government must be mindful of the fact that the fight against corruption is an increasingly specialized field and that corruption cases cannot be investigated solely with conventional tools. To effectively build complex cases, prosecutors and investigators must have the expertise available to them that is required for such cases.
An effective anti-corruption unit should ideally include prosecutors and investigators working together, along with the forensic specialists, auditors, and other experts who are necessary to complete the investigative team. Corruption and mismanagement thrives when best practices that promote transparency, responsibility and accountability are not followed. But a society that upholds and practices these best practice principles reduces the opportunities for corruption and mismanagement.
I will share with you Mr Qarase's belief on the subject: "In the final analysis, professional and personal integrity comes from the spiritual and family values we absorbed from our childhood. We were all taught the difference between right and wrong; we were taught about respect for rules, and to observe fairness and decency in our relationships with others.
These codes of life should guide us at all times." Government faces an uphill battle to eradicate corruption, but with its political will and the resources it now has, it can succeed. Realistically, it needs the support from the public and the true dedication and faithfulness of the investigators.
Rebuttal from S.i.F.M
Fiji Sun's Political Editor is rather fond of venturing off on tangents, rather than exploring the mechanics of factual events regarding the unbridled culture of corruption in Fiji.
Although, Maika Bolatiki acknowledges the rife culture of corruption, he launches on a diversionary garden path tour to diminish the seriousness of the offence, only after establishing that corruption has a global omnipresence. By extension of Bolatiki's logic, the existence of corruption in Fiji is not really a big issue.
The Fiji Sun Political Editor quotes an International Monetary Fund official and former World Bank chief, James Wolfensohn who said in 1996 that, "Corruption is a problem that all countries have to confront. Solutions, however, can only be home-grown. National leaders need to take a stand". Bolatiki further adds that deposed Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase also made a similar stand in his 2006 Parliamentarian address while presenting the 2007 Budget.
In essence, according to the application of Bolatiki's rationale that, since Qarase condemned the repeated Auditor General's report as “shameful”, it exonerates culpability and responsibility from him or SDL Government from the evidence of corruption in several statuary authorities. One case involving Fiji National Provident Fund which was reported a week ago by the Fiji Sun itself.
Bolatiki claims with oblivious insight, highlighting the premise that no one supports corruption and Qarase did not have sufficient time to confront the issue of corruption, in spite of six years at the helm. Although, the SDL Government had attempted to pass a new Freedom of Information Bill and Anti-Corruption legislation, only after the passage of the controversial RTU Bill; fundamentally those attempts by SDL Government were realistically devoid of adroitness to cease conspicuous corruption incidents, let alone widespread enough to eradicate the immense and inconspicuous magnitude of the cancer.
Despite the actions of the interim government in launching in depth investigations or their initiatives to form an Anti-Corruption entity, as well pursuing embarrassing corrupt practices; the integrity of the new appointees of the Corruption Unit was questioned by Bolatiki:”I know there will be more investigations carried out by appointed teams into various Government ministries and department activities. However, a concern to be raised is the credibility of those appointed”.
Compared with the other Bills which were expeditiously passed by the Qarase Government, it was well understood that the priority of combating corruption in Fiji, occupied the bottom of the hierarchy of needs.
With such an enterprising outlook of combating corruption, it is was expected but nothing short of alarming nor apprehensive that, the misappropriation of Agricultural programs, FNPF funds and the abuse in NLTB had not registered an extraordinary offense to arrest it by the SDL Government. While Laisenia Qarase may have a unique code of life to guide him, it is safe to assume that instead of guiding Qarase to the vested interests within these statuary agencies; the code led the deposed Prime Minister everywhere, but to the bottom of corruption.
With all the speeches denouncing corruption, everything comes to naught when no comprehensive action is taken to investigate, desist or criminalize well known cases of corruption or complaints of it. Deeds matter not words.
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