By Sattam Al-Muqrin Al-Watan
FORMER president of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) Mohammed Al-Sharief has written in his book titled “Nazaha in Confronting Corruption” that the main element of corruption noticed by the commission was bribery. He described bribery as the hallmark of administrative corruption in government departments.
Al-Sharief added: “Bribery is the worst form of corruption and it is widely practiced when awarding huge government projects, extending services, issuing licenses, removing violations and cancelling fines, tasks which are normally carried out b are normally carried out by government officials holding high positions.”
No doubt the areas of awarding contracts and making government purchases are ripe with bribery because of huge fund allocations. Officials take commissions for signing contracts for government projects on behalf of their departments. They also sign contracts for construction work and importing equipment and materials. These officials often demand a percentage of the deal from contractors and companies.
In the past, bribery was simple as people paid small amounts in bribes to get paperwork done quickly. It is not difficult to catch such corrupt employees red-handed while receiving bribes and get them arrested.
As a result of the economic boom, bribery has become a more complicated issue and Nazaha officials find it difficult to trace corrupt officials and combat corruption. In the past it was done individually but now it’s done by a team of middlemen, from the official in charge to the contractor.
Some Nazaha officials believe that bribery cases are on the increase due to low salaries of employees. As a result the national strategy to combat corruption has proposed that government employees’ salaries should be increased, especially those in lower positions, to discourage them from taking bribes.
Lower-grade employees take bribes such as plane tickets or accommodation at a five-star hotel in Europe or a new car. Senior government officials on the other hand receive millions of riyals for arranging big government contracts through foul play.
These senior officials are usually rich and we don’t know why they still take bribes. I could not find a convincing answer for this in Nazaha’s statements. Unfortunately, Nazaha does not speak about the real reasons that encourage senior government officials to take bribes.
The problem is not related to government departments alone but the entire society is involved. It is difficult for an uncorrupt official to live and work in a dishonest society. Uncorrupt companies and institutions also face the same problem and follow the bandwagon of deceitful people.
We have laid rules and regulations that prohibit bribery and impose tough punishment on employees who take bribes but these regulations often remain in paper without being implemented on the ground to serve as a deterrent.
In my opinion the main reason for growing cases of bribery among top government officials is the absence of accountability for making corrupt financial deals as well as a lack of transparency and weakness of internal monitoring. This situation provides a fertile ground for corruption at government departments.
Poor management, lack of efficient employees, overlapping of specializations and extra large administrative structure, officials lacking administrative skills, and corrupt, inefficient and poor leadership are other reasons. Moreover, corrupt officials in the top naturally encourage corruption at lower levels.
Bribery is the worst form of corruption. I believe that Nazaha should give priority to prevent bribery at government departments after meticulously studying all corruption cases that have reached courts. It should set an annual indicator about the increase or decrease of bribery cases by intense monitoring and strict punitive action against corrupt officials without any leniency.
Nazaha should also study the reasons for bribery and try to eradicate them. It should give regular reports on corrupt officials to the higher authorities. We should activate the law that emphasizes the need for government officials to disclose their wealth. This law, drafted by Nazaha, will no doubt play a key role in fighting administrative corruption at all levels. We expect its quick endorsement by the authorities.
