accountability and anti corruption measures in bangladesh

Accountability, Anti- corruption Measures

& Their Impact on Public Administration

By

Dr. Md. Shamsul ArefinA member of Bangladesh Civil Service

Belongs to 84 Batch (Admin)

A class note for the Foundation Course

4th May 2014 at 7.30 pmBPATC, Savar, Dhaka.

Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin

Historical Background of ACC

The formal institutional practice to curbing corruption was initiated in Bangladesh thorough a long evolution of system.

Formation of Enforcement Branch of Anti-Corruption was officially recognized many years before the country’s independence in 1971.

During the British rule, corrupt practices were detected in the Food Department and as such, in 1944, the Enforcement Branch was formed in the Police Department to fight such corruption.


Historical Background of ACC

The first Act against corruption was made in 1947 under the title of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

As there was no investigating agency other than the police, under the Act, certain offences were declared as offences of corruption and those were made cognizable for the police to investigate.

The Police Department was entrusted to investigate such corruption cases until the establishment of the Bureau of Anti-Corruption in 1957.


Establishment of Anti-Corruption Commission

The Anti Corruption Commission Bangladesh consists of three

Commissioners from whom the Hon’ble President appoints a Chairman

for a period of five years. There are one Secretary, six Director

General,12 Directors and some other officers as Investigators and

Prosecutors.

The total number of stuff is now 1073. The Commission is independent

in executing its duties and responsibilities. Anti Corruption Commission

Bangladesh was formed through the act promulgated on 23 February

2004 that into force on 9 May 2004. Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin

Functions of Commission

To enquire into and conduct investigation of offences mentioned in the schedule

To file cases on the basis of enquiry or investigation and conduct cases

To hold enquiry into allegations of corruption on its own motion or on the

application of aggrieved person or any person on his behalf

To perform any function assigned to Commission by any Act in respect of

corruption

To review any recognized provisions of any law for prevention of corruption and

submit recommendation to the Hon’ble President for their effective implementation

To undertake research, prepare plan for prevention of corruption and submit to the

Hon’ble President recommendation for action based on the result of such research.


Declaration of Properties(i) If the Commission is satisfied on the basis of its own information and after necessary investigation that any person or any other person on his behalf is in possession or has obtained ownership of property not consistent with his legal sources of income then the commission through an order in writing shall ask that person to submit a statement of assets and liabilities in the manner determined by the commission and to furnish any other information mentioned in that order.

(ii) If any person –

a) After having received an order mentioned in sub-section (1) fails to submit the written statement or furnish the information accordingly or submits any written statement or provides any information that is false or baseless or there are sufficient grounds to doubt their veracity or

b) Submits any book, account, record, declaration, return or any document under sub-section (1) or gives any statement that is false or baseless or there are sufficient grounds to doubt its veracity, then that person will be sentenced to a prison term of up to three (3) years or a fine or both.


Section 27 of Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004 Possession of Property in Excess of Known Sources of Income

(i) If there are sufficient and reasonable grounds to believe that a person in his/her own name or any other person on his/her behalf is in possession and has obtained ownership of moveable or Immovable property through dishonest means and the property is not consistent with the known sources of his/her income and if he/she fails to submit to the court during trial a satisfactory explanation for possessing that property,

(ii) Then that person shall be sentenced to a prison term ranging from a minimum of three years to a maximum of ten years imprisonment, and these properties shall be confiscated.


Relevant LawsThe relevant laws for investigation of corruption cases are the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr PC), 1898 and the Anti-Corruption Commission Act (ACC Act), 2004. The former one is the general procedural law for investigation and trial of criminal cases. The latter one is the special law against corruption. As far as investigations of corruption cases are concerned, if any conflict between the provisions of the aforesaid Acts is found, the provision of the latter Act will prevail.

The Cr PC describes under sections 154 to 173 how offences are registered with police stations, investigations are made and the reports of investigations are submitted before the court for trial. The Anti-Corruption Commission Act dictates an investigator to conduct an enquiry before lodging/registering a First Information Report (FIR) stating the offence(s) committed. If prima facie evidence is established in enquiry, an FIR is lodged with the police station and thereafter the formal investigation starts under the provisions of the Cr PC. An investigation ends with submission of an Investigation Report before the court.


Corruption refers to the practice of misusing one’s power and position to achieve various illegal ends.

Abuse of entrusted power for private

(illicit) gains

Complex PhenomenonBribes, fraud, extortion, favouritism, nepotism, embezzlement.

Grey areas: Lobbying, gifts


Misuse of Authority

Misappropriation of Public Fund

Cheating public at large

Bribery

Asset beyond known source of income

Money laundering

Forgery

Schedule of Anticorruption act 2004


Definition of Corruption by WBCorruption is operationally defined as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain- Transparency International.

Corruption is the abuse of public office for private gain - World Bank Misuse of Power for private gain Bribery Extortion Manipulation of Laws

According to the Section 2(e) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act-2004 : ‘Corruption’ means the offences set out in the schedule to this law”.


Dynamics of Corruption

C =M+D-A-SWhere, C=CorruptionM= MonopolyD= DiscretionA= AccountabilityS= Public sector salariesDiscretion!!!

The exercise of individual judgment, instead of formal rules, in making decisions is discretion.Whistleblower means-

An employee who refuses to engage in and or reports illegal or wrongful activities of his employer or fellow employees.


The Pillars of AnticorruptionIntegrity

Address risks openly Promote a culture of discussion

Foster and protect whistleblowers (anonymity)

Transparency Publicise information (e.g. payments, regulatory decisions,

selection criteria etc.) Is the information accessible? (space, time)

Accountability More effective and efficient controls (externals, CS, medias etc.) Avoid impunity (Law enforcement)

Participation Involve Civil Society and others (e.g.

Report Cards, Integrity Pacts) Train on how to use information?

AC

Risk Assessment

Collective Action

Effective Leadership

Good Governance


Role of Civil Servants Use minimum or no discretion Create perfect competitions Open Integrity unit Maintain Transparency Ensure Accountability Ensure Rule of law Ensure Good governance Follow a person who is a Role Model to you Try to be a Role Model to others

TransparencyIntegrityAccountabilityWhistleblower protection

Aware Citizen

Preventive Measures

Enhanced Accounting and Auditing Standards

Reducing Discretionary Authorities

Create Competition

Effective Civil, Administrative or Criminal Penalties

Governance Deficiencies

Lack of transparency Lack of competition Monopoly Weak Accountability Weak transparency High Discretion

IMPACT OF CORRUPTION

• InefficiencyInefficiency• InefficiencyInefficiency

• Poor QualityPoor Quality• High CostHigh Cost

• Poor QualityPoor Quality• High CostHigh Cost

POOR SERVICE POOR SERVICE DELIVERYDELIVERY

Low investmentLow investmentUnemployment Unemployment

Impede economic DevelopmentImpede economic Development

POOR SERVICE POOR SERVICE DELIVERYDELIVERY

Low investmentLow investmentUnemployment Unemployment

Impede economic DevelopmentImpede economic Development


How to tackle corruption in Bangladesh

1. Developing long-term anti-corruption strategy

2. Creating citizen’s will

3. Effective decentralisation of government agency

4. Create a sense of hate about corruption

5. More transparency and more simplification of

procedures

6. Incentives for good performance

7. Awareness and Motivational programme

Which one is transparent ? Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin

Major Initiatives to Enhance Transparency & Accountability

• Transparency is about the sharing of information about government decisions and activities and access to information etc.

• Right to Information Act• Citizens Charters• e-Government• e-procurement• Protection of whistle-blowers• Anti corruption act• Integrity Strategy


Accountability Accountability

Ensure Optimum use of Resource Ensure Optimum use of Resource

End CorruptionEnd Corruption

InternalInternal& &

External External Check Check

InspectioInspectionn

Audit Audit Monitoring Monitoring & &

Evaluation Evaluation ))

Own SatisfactionOwn SatisfactionClients SatisfactionClients SatisfactionOptimum use of Optimum use of resourceresourceEnd Corruption End Corruption

Corrective Corrective Measures Measures

Award Award /Honor/Honor

CInInCInInConditions Conditions

Own answer

Penalty Penalty

IntegrityIntegrity Law & Law & Rules Rules


Implementation Process of Accountability

ELEMENTS ISSUES

1. PROCUREMENT • Implement E procurement 2. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT • Ensure strong internal controls

• External audit • Minimize cash transactions• Adoption of Merit-Based Performance Incentive

3. DISCLOSURE • Minimize possible conflicts of interest • Enhance transparency through public disclosure

4. CIVIL SOCIETY ROLE • Greater involvement of Civil Society Organizations

5. COMPLAINTS & REMEDIES MECHANISM

• Provide overall complaints and grievances mechanism

6. CODE OF ETHICAL CONDUCT • Establish Code of Ethical Conduct

7. SANCTIONS • No sanctions or immunity.

8

04/11/23 Md. Shamsul Arefin 27

Please indicate how much do you agree with the following

statements

I would feel comfortable helping my relative to get promotion in my office, though he is not qualified.

I would feel comfortable helping my family members to get a

job in my govt office even if they were not as qualified as another candidate.

I would feel obligated to use my influence as a civil servant to help my friend / relative with a problem if I could.


Which Countries Are Corrupted

• The Transparency International 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that the most honest countries are Finland, New Zealand, Iceland, Denmark, and Singapore.

• The most corrupt countries are Haiti, Guinea, Myanmar, Iraq, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan.

• China, Brazil, Ghana, Senegal, Peru, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, India, and Egypt all rank in the middle of the 163 countries ranked. Bangladesh ranked 136 last year.


Protection of Values

Now in many cases, people do not feel any hesitation to take paper, pen or ink from the office to home for personal use. But once taking pen or pencil or ink from office to home for personal use was considered as a serious offence.

Mr Mohammad Ali Ex, Chief Minister of Pakistan after submitting resignation letter from his office, he took pen of Bangabhaban with him beyond his knowledge. But when he had seen the pen in his pocket, he came back and returned it to Bangabhaban. If this is happened now a days, people might say it is done just as an administrative standbazi.


6 January 2013

Teaching of Hazrat Muhammed SA (Peace be upon him) Prophet Hazrat Muhammed SA (Peace be upon him) once appointed Abdullah-bin –Laithai as Amil (tax collector). At the time of depositing the collected zakat before the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), Abdullah had divided that into two parts and said one part of this is zakat money from people, and the other is the gift presented by people to me.”

Hearing this, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, “Would the people have given the gifts to you if you had not been given the responsibility of collecting zakat?” Saying this, the Prophet of Islam instructed Abdullah to deposit the gifted amount along with the collected revenue to Baitulmal, and the following morning issued an official circular prohibiting officials to receive any gift from people.

Another related Hadith is that:“He who receives bribe, he who offers bribe and the mediator between the two, are all equally doers of punishable offence”.


Case Study 1

One day you are riding your motorcycle and a patrol car

stops you on the motorway because you are not wearing

your helmet. The patrol party tells you to pay a fine of Taka

2,000/-, but will ignore the violation if you pay him Tk 200.

Questions:o What is wrong with this behavior?

o Should you pay Taka 200 instead of 2000/-?


Case Study 2

Mr. Peter needs to have his Identity Card processed at a

government office. In order to speed up the process and

avoid standing in line, he asks for someone help speeding

things up. Later Peter has given him taka 200 as a gift.

Questions:o What is the policy option ?

o Did Peter’s action hurt others?


Case Study 3

A young girl has failed her exam twice. She has one more

opportunity to retake the exam. Her parents are afraid she will

fail again, which will drastically reduce her opportunities to find a

good job, a good husband, or to study further. In order to increase

her chances of passing, the girl’s parents try to give an expensive

reception to her teacher. Questions:

o Would it make any difference if the gift was a book or flowers?o Can you tell a policy option to prevent this kind of situation?


Case Study 4

You are an Executive Engineer and you receive a fund

for building a bridge in your project. Your nephew

happens to run a construction company and he makes it

very clear that he expects you to give him the contract

because you are a family. You realize that if you decide

not to give him the contract, problems could arise within

your family .

Question:o What do you do?o Tell a policy option that prevents this from happening again.


Conclusion Corruption is widespread in some countries because of

First, the motivation to earn income is extremely strong and the absence of risk-spreading Mechanisms. ( Low risk and high reward)

Second, Monopoly rents seeking behavior.

The discretion of many public officials is broad and this systemic weakness is exacerbated by poorly defined, ever changing, and poorly disseminated rules and regulations.

Accountability is typically weak. Competition are not perfect often restricted.

The two parties to a bribe often both benefit, bribery can be extremely difficult to detect.

The watchdog institutions are weak


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