Strengthen ethics, awareness, enforcement to prevent corruption, say Speakers at seminar organized by SDPI in collaboration with NAB

ISLAMABAD, Sep 08 (SABAH): Zahir Shah, Deputy Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has called for inculcating a strong sense of realization and will at individual level and by all segments of society to eradicate corruption from the social fabric as enforcement alone cannot do it.

He expressed these views while addressing an awareness seminar on “Understanding Corruption and Prevention from Society”, organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with the Awareness and Prevention Division of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), here on Thursday. He said that corruption has been decreased at higher financial levels and it has been increased at medium and lower income levels. He briefed the audience that NAB has 60% conviction rate.

He said NAB does not have adequate Human Resource capacity for investigations. The prosecutors at NAB are not appropriately paid against their counterparts, the corporate lawyers, who represent the culprits. There is a big issue that NAB cannot bring back accused from abroad in absence of extradition treaties with majority of the countries. Responding to questions, he informed that NAB responds to some of the inquiries sent under the Right to Information Law but amid sensitive and confidential nature of information regarding investigation and ongoing trials it cannot divulge the information as that may impact the case. He called upon all segments of society to play their role in combating corruption through spreading awareness about corrupt practices, Zahir Shah added.

Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director SDPI, said that corruption is one of the leading deterrents negatively impacting foreign investments and some investors have categorically pointed out corruption in the value chain. Corruption also prevents effective utilization of public money in pro-poor initiatives in Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) and Annual Development Programs. He also expressed that young entrepreneurs are challenged by corrupt practices prevalent in our systems which is the reason when they reach scaling up stage, start-ups get sold.

Dr. Syed Kaleem Imam, former Federal Secretary Ministry of Narcotics Control, said that “the state has to be ruthlessly ethical” to eradicate this menace from society. He emphasized on educating and developing strong sense of ethics and introspection at individual level so people do not remain silent spectators to corruption happening around them. He suggested empowering judicial and accountability organizations to enable them to act independently, fairly and efficiently without external instructions or interventions. He also stressed that investigation practices in Pakistan must follow international best practices where actions against accuses/criminals are conducted with unshakable proofs rather than conducting arrests first and sorting out evidence later. He said the accountability institutions’ leadership should exhibit strength to absorb all kinds of pressure ensuring their fairness,

Dr. Najaf Quli Mirza, Director General, Awareness and Prevention Wing, NAB, briefed the audience that NAB under Section 33(C) conducts awareness initiatives among the public. Under this section, NAB has established 5000 Character-Building Committees across national academic institutions to not only sensitize youth but also develop strong sense of responsibility and morality. He further pointed out that under Section 33 of NAB Ordinance, 77 Corruption Prevention Committees, who submit recommendations of their work to the government and relevant public institutions to weed out this menace from the system.

Majid Bashir, Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan stressed on developing technical expertise of NAB prosecutors and judiciary on financial cases. He also suggested improving the compensation of NAB prosecutors as defense councils are highly paid in comparison. He further said that NAB cases are prolonged to the point where witnesses resign from proceedings due to exhaustion and discouragement. Responding to a question, he said that contrary to general perception, plea bargain deal works in favor of the country as it enables identification of other beneficiaries in the case due to condition of disclosure and brings money made through corruption available for use for public welfare.

Dr. Bushra Yasmin, Professor of Economics, Fatima Jinnah Women University, suggested that among various negative implications corruptions demotivates people and leads to net-out migration which is a huge loss of productive and important labor. She further said it strengthens preferential tax rebates and reinforces inequalities, injustice and terrorism. She called for revamping judicial procedures, sensitizing public and exalting high taxpayers publicly by inviting them to inaugurations to build a string narrative both at domestic and global level.

Dr. Shafqat Munir Ahmad, Research Fellow SDPI, said corruption is a reality; and there is a question that despite having different anti-corruption laws and enforcement bodies, why we are not improving on Global Corruption Index? The answer is that corruption is a mindset which creeps into actions of the corrupt elements and hence many corruption practices are sanctioned within society. We have to change the mindset and misperception about corruption through understanding corrupt practices, only then we can eliminate the menace.