Recognizing the need for global unity and campaign against corruption, the UN General Assembly by resolution 58/4 in Oct 31, 2003, designated Dec 9 as an International Anti-Corruption Day. Since then, this day is being celebrated to raise people’s awareness about corruption, forge global solidarity and enforce implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCaC) in combating and preventing it worldwide.
Corruption, because of its changing scope, manifestations and connotations, has become an area for a substantial amount of theorizing, conceptualizing and empirical research since 1980s. It has produced a bewildering array of alternative explanations, typologies and remedies as well. However, as an extensively applied and discussed notion in both politics and social sciences, corruption is understood as everything from the paying of bribes to civil servants in return for some favor and the theft of public purses, to a wide range of dubious economic and political practices in which politicians and bureaucrats enrich themselves and any abuse of public authority for private gain.
If we look at the global index, we will see much of the world in a state of critical condition – 131 of the 178 countries score below five out of 10 in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI). This has pressed alarms globally and calls for an urgent need to strengthen governance and anti-corruption mechanisms. The CPI is only one way of gauging the symptoms of corruption. However, the real challenge, the one that we all need to work together to address, is to diagnose the causes, determine most affected institutions or sectors and introduce needy legal and institutional reforms before it is too late.
Corruption is elusive by nature and omnipresent in form. That´s why fighting corruption has become more of a daily battle in many of the countries like Nepal. Over the last decade, many underdeveloped countries such as Nepal have enormously realized to what extent corruption has damaged their development, economy, political stability and democratic system at large. Yet they don´t seem to bother to step up the fight against corruption. Governments, the private sector and civil society alike have waged crusade against corruption, yet the anti-corruption movement has become more rhetorical than a reality in countries like ours with rising corruption levels each year.
BEYOND CELEBRATIONS
Nepal has been observing this day by organizing interactions, workshops and seminars for the last couple of years. These programs have served as good forums for our leaders to get more rhetoric than rational by making big anti-corruption pledges. The international anti-corruption day has become more of a ritualized practice in Nepal. Celebrating it in one way or the other has not made any substantial difference in the fight against corruption.
It is time to move beyond ritualized celebrations. It should be our collective responsibility to make pledges for bold anti-corruption efforts by using this anti-corruption day as an opportunity to set something really to go into action. The government, political parties, media and civil society organizations, including other stakeholders, should not only confine this world anti-corruption day to a mere ritual celebration with rallies and workshops but also make it productive and meaningful for something concrete so that we can really take pride in our fight against corruption by trimming down corruption levels.
The TI´s Corruption Perception Index 2010 shows that Nepal has climbed down three notches on the global index, making itself the most corrupt at par with counties like Somalia, Afghanistan and Myanmar. Nepal has been ranked at 146, three notches down from last year. Nepal was placed 143rd among 180 countries in the corruption index securing a 2.3 score in 2009 while it has secured 2.2 this year. Nepal was ranked at 121 in the global corruption index in 2008.
It should be a matter of utmost shame to our politicos that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has been functioning without its chief commissioner for more than three years. It has been made defunct by a conflict of interests and marred by political influence.
Likewise, the World Economic Forum´s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) indicates that Nepal’s competitiveness has been fast eroding in the global arena. Nepal has been ranked 10th from the bottom in the GCI 2010-11. Nepal has slipped to 130th position from 125th from last year. The index also shows that public trust in the country’s politicians is at its lowest. It has identified political instability and corruption as the two top indicators, among others, that have eroded Nepal´s economic competitiveness.
The vertical drop in such global indexes and reports shows that corruption has increased alarmingly. The reality behind this burgeoning level of corruption in Nepal is due to political protectionism, impunity, political transition and weak enforcement of the anti-corruption laws and mechanisms. Besides institutional and legal reforms, of the many ways to fight corruption, the most important one is public demand and empowerment of citizens besides strict enforcement of anti-corruption laws. Without citizens demanding their governments to perform better and holding them to account, the situation as reflected by this year’s CPI is unlikely to chance.
POLITICAL INDIFFERENCE
Legal and institutional shortcomings also have a strong impact on the effectiveness of prosecution of corruption in countries like Nepal where state anti-corruption institutions have remained ineffective and de facto over the last three years. Nepal is losing both the state effectiveness (ability to govern) and the state legitimacy (right to govern) because of corrupt political system, impunity and increasing corruption indexes. While effectiveness may matter over time but legitimacy is essential for sustaining a fragile country such as Nepal which has literally failed to rein in corruption and impunity by enforcing the rule of law.
It should be a matter of utmost shame to our politicos that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has been functioning without its chief commissioner for more than three years. It has been made defunct by a conflict of interests and marred by political influence. The delay in appointment of a chief commissioner at the CIAA is a politically calculated move to weaken the only anti-corruption constitutional body.
On this very world anti-corruption day, if our leaders make a pledge to appoint the chief commissioner and commissioners at the CIAA, it would at least soothe us and make this day meaningful in some way. The other most important step in the fight against corruption would be a ratification of the UNCaC. Nepal became a signatory to this convention in 2003 but has failed to ratify it. The then Legislature-Parliament had passed a ‘resolution’ for the UN convention, but it is yet to receive full parliamentary ratification.
Actions speak louder than words in the campaign against corruption. Therefore, it´s time to walk the talk before Nepal climbs to a record high in corruption index by sliding further into a cesspit of corruption.
pbhattarai2001@gmail.com
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