RIYADH — A statement issued by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) on the violations and irregularities in the appointment in the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs of a son of Civil Service Minister Khaled Al-Araj has missed to mention three key points, according to a prominent lawyer.
Speaking to Al-Watan daily, Khaled Al-Babtain said the Nazaha report lacked transparency.
Nazaha said the ministry has not observed the rules and regulations of appointments in the employment contract signed with Al-Araj's son nor has it liaised with the Ministry of Civil Service to determine his salary.
According to the commission, the ministry has not subjected the son to any medical examination and has also disregarded the minimum age for such positions, which is 33 years.
"Nazaha's statement was too short to explain whether the minister's son won favors at the expense of other qualified applicants. It did not pinpoint the inability of the supervisory bodies in uncovering the irregularity, nor did it say how the violation was detected," Al-Babtain told Al-Watan.
The lawyer said Nazaha has ignored the fact that both the public and the leadership were waiting to see assurances that such violations would not be repeated in the future.
"The transparency which does not culminate in accountability, improve performance and fight corruption has no meaning at all," he said.
Nazaha said it has discovered that violations in appointments have happened in 10 ministries, including housing, national economy and planning, municipal and rural affairs, health, transport, culture and information, commerce and investment, telecommunications and IT, labor and social development, and justice.
Al-Watan said the 10 ministries evaded its questions, by refusing to comment on the mechanism they would adopt to correct the irregularities in appointments.
According to the newspaper, Labor and Social Development Minister Mofrej Al-Haqbani said he would investigate and respond.
The appointment of the minister's son was strongly criticized by citizens on social media.
Nazaha said in the light of these criticisms, it started investigating the issue and found out many violations were committed in the appointments at several ministries.
The commission said it has forwarded its report on the issue to the royal court.
According to a local newspaper, there were violations in the appointment of at least 70 people in government departments.
