Gopal Khadka, the controversial Managing Director of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the state oil monopoly, has finally been relieved of his responsibilities, two months after Republica and Nagarik dailies first started reporting on massive embezzlement of public funds while buying lands for new NOC depots. But his sacking is only the first step. In order to set the right precedent, it is important that Khadka, as well as his accomplishes in the government, now be tried in a court of law. Yet there is a possibility that they won’t. The example set in the case of former CIAA chief Lokman Singh Karki is not encouraging. Despite reams of evidence showing his involvement in abuse of power and corruption, no criminal case was pursued against Karki. The only way to make sense of this is that senior politicians in Nepal feared that if they took criminal action against Karki, they too may be dragged in. This is perhaps also why Khadka, someone who openly boasted of breaking law in awarding of a vital oil contract during the border blockade, was spared for so long, and why no further action could be taken against him.
This will be a grave mistake, as it will suggest that senior civil servants, no matter how corrupt, will, at the most, pay with their posts, while the massive fortunes they have accumulated for themselves and their cronies will remain intact, safely away from the purview of state organs. Isn’t this what happened in Karki’s case? This is why the state must immediately initiate legal action against NOC’s Khadka. Separately, Khadka’s dismissal is further proof of the immense power of media to bring about positive social change. It shows that no matter how powerful you are, you can never take Nepal’s media, even with all its faults, for granted. This is how it should be in a functioning democracy with the media, as the unofficial fourth state organ, helping the other three organs maintain effective check and balance and holding public officials to account. This case should thus be an inspiration for all Nepali journalists to fearlessly investigate and bring to public notice corruption in high places. If they are sincere about their investigations, and keep at it through thick and thin, they will eventually be rewarded.
This is also why we will not abandon our crusade against corrupt officials like Khadka unless they are made accountable for their crimes. Now that Khadka is gone, we urge the prime minister to also dismiss the disgraced chief of Sajha Prakashan, Dolendra Prasad Sharma, whose list of wrongdoings—from funneling Sajha proceeds into his private printer to making Sajha a recruiting ground for his cronies—is just as long as Khadka’s. There is also an urgent need to dismantle the mighty medical mafia that aims to thwart Dr Govinda KC’s noble efforts to bring cheap and reliable healthcare to all Nepalis. When nearly the whole government machinery is corrupt, handpicked cases like Gopal Khadka and Dolendra Prasad Sharma might seem like puny and inadequate battle victories in the big and seemingly unwinnable war against corruption. This is an erroneous reading. The only way to dismantle the huge edifice of corruption is a brick at a time.
Heart to Heart with Malvika
