Curtailing corruption

Corruption’s cancerous grip on Sri Lanka was proved once again when the Dompe Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman and a Pradeshiya Sabha member were arrested while taking a bribe of Rs. 400,000, which was part of a Rs. 7 million payoff for a quarry.

Sri Lanka was recently placed 79th in the annual CPI released by Transparency International (TI). Sri Lanka’s improvement is welcome, but as TI says, two thirds of the 176 countries are ranked in the 2012 index score below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), showing that public institutions need to be more transparent, and powerful officials more accountable. Since Sri Lanka has scored below 50, it is apparent that the country is yet among those who were unable to minimise the level of corruption hence need to strengthen anti-corruption mechanisms.

The apparent increase in confidence in the Bribery and Corruption Commission is a welcome change. It was reported that the Bribery and Corruption Commission has received 2,535 complaints against Government officers since 2011, showing that more people are coming forward to complain against the menace.

Of the complaints received, 130 cases have been investigated, out of which 69 have already been closed. A total of 32 cases were concluded at the High Court where 17 secured convictions were made. The Commission received around 12 complaints daily, where most of them were against public sector employees.

The commission’s Director General Lakshmi Jayawickrama has said they were looking to recruit more professionally-qualified experts in investigating corruption cases, especially to probe the veracity of such complaints which are now being lodged at a higher rate. The commission hopes to implement an efficient investigation into each of the complaints determined as an actual case.

Even though the number of complaints have increased, it is important to speed up the process so that the investigations can result in justice sooner rather than later. It also underscores the importance of disclosure within the public service system itself so that corrupt and honest officials are not lumped together. Inclusion of whistle-blowing practices, indeed the legal power to allow officials to be transparent, must be encouraged by the policy system.

From Government contacts to land allocation for multimillion dollar projects, the opportunities for scams are everywhere. It can only be hoped that the steps taken thus far will pave the way for stronger anti-corruption activism from the public themselves.

In fixing the many steps for honesty and good governance, it is important to target every step of the structure. Larger corruption needs to be tackled by the Bribery and Corruption Commission if it needs to cement itself a place among the public’s confidence. The commission has long been accused of letting the ‘big fish’ get away, but its hands are tied by the need for people to come forward. But this in turn is impeded by lack of security for people who testify and protection from intimidation. Without these safeguards in place, the larger questions on corruption will remain unanswered.

The Government is keen to promote Sri Lanka as a vibrant democracy, but what the public needs to understand is that their right to information, which promotes good governance, is an entitlement that is perhaps even more important than elections or multiple demonstrations.