TIB submits proposals to strengthen ACC

FE Team | Published: March 14, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed deep concern over reported proposals to reform the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) that have been finalised by the Cabinet Committee, saying that the proposals are not consistent with the commitment of the Government to ensure the independence and effectiveness of the anti-graft body, reports UNB.
As part of its efforts to address these concerns, TIB submitted a set of 18 pro-posals to the Government for strengthening the ACC, according to a statement released by the international NGO Saturday.
In it, TIB executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman is quoted as saying: "Corruption in all sectors - political, administrative, corporate, NGO, and individual - should be treated on equal footing and must be within the jurisdiction of the ACC. The exclusion of any particular sector, especially the public service, will be discriminatory and counter-productive to the objective of making corruption a punishable offence."
TIB urged the government to ensure that corruption in the public service remains within the jurisdiction of the ACC, with no need for prior permission. Offences committed in good faith, if any, should be determined in the Court of Law, not through any blanket waiver.
TIB also demanded that the Commission should retain the authority of appointing the Secretary.
Dr Zaman suggested that in order to strengthen financial accountability of the Commission, a strong internal audit unit should be set up within the ACC, composed of credible and qualified professionals reporting directly to the ACC Chairman. This is in addition to the statutory audit.
The TIB statement also said the proposal to make the Commission accountable to the President would not meet the objective of accountability. Rather, the ACC should be made accountable to a Judicial Committee of the Supreme Court.
TIB also proposed that a Citizens Advisory Committee, composed of non-partisan and prominent citizens of high integrity, honesty and credibility, can be provided for in the law to advise and evaluate the work of the ACC. Citizens' sub-committees can be created to advise the ACC in specific areas of work for prevention through education, awareness and civic engagement.
Some of the other notable ACC proposals include granting the ACC true independence by reviewing Article 30 of the Anti-Corruption Act 2004, providing full authority to the Commission to be able to use its budget independently without interference from the government through a review of Article 25 of the ACC Act, preventing possible omnibus interventions by the Government by reviewing Article 36 of the Act, and enacting a rule whereby the ACC employees must proactively disclose and regularly update their assets and liabilities statements to the government, by making use of the ACC website and other means of communication.