Fight against corruption need to start at school. Gabriel Kuris, Research Specialist at Princeton University Research Centre. Times of India, Calcutta Edition Dtd. 15.03.2014. Anti-corruption agencies(ACAs) those were established in the 90s and early 2000s in diverse emerging democracies , there is no clear metric of success for anti-corruption efforts, but most of the ACAs shared some positive results, such as high public trust, high conviction rates and strong international reputations. Most importantly all had survived for at least 10 years. ACAs do best when they have: 1) Strong institutional partners in the justice sector. 2) Clear and manageable mandates. 3) Strong powers. 4) An ample staff and budget. 5) Political independence. 6) Safe guards of accountability. 7) Political will. However these conditions are not set in stone. Like skilled poker players, ACA leaders and their supporters need to play with the cards they’re dealt. There are tactics that effective agency leaders can use to generate political will, secure more resources and demonstrate independence. The ACAs of Slovenia and Ghana were supposedly “toothless” and yet exposed significant pattern of graft. A political will to pass anti-corruption legislation generally came either from international pressure or from citizens themselves often voters elected reformist to clean up government. At the same time, an event like an economic crisis, a scandal, or a crime wave galvanized public anger and triggered reforms. In democracies, if people want government action against corruption, they need to demand it through their voices. Its easy for parties to make empty promises, voters need to hold them accountable. The war against corruption is not just a war against politicians. ACAs have many arrows in their quiver, and there are tactics that don’t single out and threaten individuals. Prosecution alone cannot reform a faulty system. ACAs in Botswana, Mauritius and Indonesia have made great strides by partnering with ministers and offices. ACAs won public support. This boosted their operations and shielded them from political push back. In Latin and Slovenia, popular Prime Ministers fall from power because they tried to take on repeated ACAs. In Indonesia mass protests forced parliament to back off plans to curtail the ACAs powers. To build support, an agency needs to demonstrate clear gains, cultivate a reputation for professionalism and steer clear of internal scandals. Hong Kong’s Independent Commission against corruption voluntarily established advisory councils of respective private citizens to confidentially review their case files, to show that they were not undertaking investigations for political reasons. Also, ACAs need to avoid common pitfalls, spreading themselves too him, taking on high level investigation that outstrip their capacity and falling to set strict internal safe guards. Real progress against corruption requires preventive reforms and educational efforts that drive special change. Slovenia created a website called Supervizor that enables citizen to search and monitor all government expenditures. Lithuania integrated anti-corruption curricula into all levels of education, from elementary schools to universities. ManyACA leaders say managing citizen expectations was their hardest task. The public is hungry for cases that make good head lines, but those expectations must be balanced against long-term needs. Indonesia’s anti-corruption commissioners spent a year building their ACA. The commissioners were ridiculed for in action. But a strong base allowed them to pursue high level investigations. When their term ended, they were celebrated as national heroes. In contrast, Latvia’s ACA launched fast and started going after big cases without focusing on internal procedures. A few years later, when ACA was at the height of its popularity, an internal corruption scandal torpedoed its reputation.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:45:20 +0000
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