Corruption and its impact

Unfortunately we observe a distinct lack of political will when it comes to combating corruption

Quoting a senior official of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), a recent Independent report said that any corruption suspects goes off the hook in the cases filed by (ACC) as it fails to produce witnesses in courts. It is not as if the said official revealed a huge secret. As a matter of fact, many if not the majority of the persons accused of graft mange to find legal loopholes and go scot-free. The history of pursuing corruption cases in this country is a chequered one mainly because of the repeated compromises struck between parties on account of interference from the higher ups, the selective nature of the allegations, and political motivations behind many of the charges.
Everyone seems to agree that corruption is a common barrier to development—it deters governments and individuals from investing aid assistance and development projects. Instead of allowing funds to flow safely and efficiently between groups, corruption adds overhead costs to projects and usually demands bribes for bypassing bureaucratic red tape. Worst of all, the common people suffer when government officials incessantly engage in corruption and reap all the benefits of ‘development’ themselves. Many development theorists maintain that government and institutions need to be reformed in order to actually achieve development goals.
One way to curtail corruption is to talk about it. Those in leadership positions should not be shy to remind us that integrity does matter and that people can do well for themselves without abusing their positions. We cannot underestimate the role leaders can play in dealing with moral crisis. Our political, religious and civil society leaders have a role to play here. Our leaders must always set the example by speaking up against corruption and demonstrating integrity in what they do.
Unfortunately we observe a distinct lack of political will when it comes to combating corruption. During the national elections among many commitments made by Bangladesh Awami League was the pledge to make the ACC independent and effective. It has since been repeated many times at the highest level of the government. However, frankly speaking we are yet to see any concrete results. People are getting disillusioned about ACC. ACC has until now failed to demonstrate the kind of strategic vision of direction expected of an organisation that was mandated with the task of fighting corruption.
In the absence of political will, little will come out of the inane platitudes uttered by political and social leaders. Until political backing is strong enough across the partisan divide, to make ACC effective regardless of political and personal consequences, the organisation is at the real risk of becoming a toothless tiger, if it already has not become so.

Corruption and its impact

Unfortunately we observe a distinct lack of political will when it comes to combating corruption

Quoting a senior official of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), a recent Independent report said that any corruption suspects goes off the hook in the cases filed by (ACC) as it fails to produce witnesses in courts. It is not as if the said official revealed a huge secret. As a matter of fact, many if not the majority of the persons accused of graft mange to find legal loopholes and go scot-free. The history of pursuing corruption cases in this country is a chequered one mainly because of the repeated compromises struck between parties on account of interference from the higher ups, the selective nature of the allegations, and political motivations behind many of the charges. Everyone seems to agree that corruption is a common barrier to developmentit deters governments and individuals from investing aid assistance and development projects. Instead of allowing funds to flow safely and efficiently between groups, corruption adds overhead costs to projects and usually demands bribes for bypassing bureaucratic red tape. Worst of all, the common people suffer when government officials incessantly engage in corruption and reap all the benefits of development themselves. Many development theorists maintain that government and institutions need to be reformed in order to actually achieve development goals. One way to curtail corruption is to talk about it. Those in leadership positions should not be shy to remind us that integrity does matter and that people can do well for themselves without abusing their positions. We cannot underestimate the role leaders can play in dealing with moral crisis. Our political, religious and civil society leaders have a role to play here. Our leaders must always set the example by speaking up against corruption and demonstrating integrity in what they do. Unfortunately we observe a distinct lack of political will when it comes to combating corruption. During the national elections among many commitments made by Bangladesh Awami League was the pledge to make the ACC independent and effective. It has since been repeated many times at the highest level of the government. However, frankly speaking we are yet to see any concrete results. People are getting disillusioned about ACC. ACC has until now failed to demonstrate the kind of strategic vision of direction expected of an organisation that was mandated with the task of fighting corruption. In the absence of political will, little will come out of the inane platitudes uttered by political and social leaders. Until political backing is strong enough across the partisan divide, to make ACC effective regardless of political and personal consequences, the organisation is at the real risk of becoming a toothless tiger, if it already has not become so.