Senior government officials have raised serious questions over the move as the team´s entire expenses are being borne by the ministry and police HQ, which are under investigation on charges of financial irregularities in the procurement of logistics for Nepal Police personnel deployed for UN peacekeeping in Sudan. [break]
The officials said the move may influence ongoing investigations by a parliamentary probe panel. The State Affairs Committee of parliament has already formed a probe committee led by UML lawmaker Pradip Gyawali to investigate the scam.
A report prepared by the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) states that vehicles, catering, communication systems, furniture, tents, office, electricity, laundry and sanitation materials and health, welfare and internet facilities do not meet standards.
Bypassing the committee, the Ministry and police HQ sent a separate team to Sudan at the ministry and HQ´s expense, purportedly for investigations.
Joint Secretary Som Bahadur Thapa, who is also secretary of the Public Accounts Committee of parliament, Chief of the Home Ministry´s Finance Section Rishi Prasad Sharma and an officer at the Office of the Auditor General, Mohan Prasad Parajuli, have been in Sudan for the last 15 days.
“Those who allegedly indulged in the scam cannot initiate investigations on their own,” a source at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) told myrepublica.com on condition of anonymity.
If any team headed by an officer of joint-secretary level is to visit a foreign country it is mandatory to get approval from a cabinet meeting. Moreover, prior to that such a team has to seek approval from the Ministry of Finance regarding the expenses to be incurred during the trip.
An officer at the Finance Ministry said the ministry is totally unaware of the visit.
This time, the Home Ministry and police HQ did not even submit a proposal to the Finance Ministry regarding the trip´s expenses let alone get approval from the ministry. An officer at the Home Ministry said that police HQ arranged the whole trip and agreed to bear the entire expenses. The ministry and police HQ did not take consent from the cabinet either.
“This is a serious violation of government regulations as those who are allegedly involved in irregularities are found to be conspicuously taking initiative for the investigations,” said an officer at OPMCM.
The Home Ministry, however, denied any violation of government regulation, saying that an institution was free to carry out such internal investigations.
Spokesperson of the Home Ministry Jaya Mukunda Khanal requested that the matter not be looked at suspiciously. “Every organization has the right to investigate its internal matters and we did the same,” Khanal said. He further said that the ministry is sending officials to Sudan not to influence any investigations.
However, former home secretary Shreekanta Regmi said such an initiative cannot be taken as fair and impartial investigations. “Such a team, which is sponsored by police HQ, will in some way be loyal to the sponsor and may not come up with findings against the institution,” Regmi said adding that such a move will ultimately influence other independent investigations.
A senior official at OPMCM said there are also chances for destruction of concrete evidence of irregularities.
Parliamentary committee seeks clarification
Meanwhile, Gyawali said the parliamentary probe committee is concerned about the team´s trip that is taking place after the committee started its own investigations and it has sought clarifications over the matter from police HQ.
He said one cannot rule out chances of evidence of irregularities being destroyed under such circumstances. “Therefore we have asked police HQ to furnish the objective of sending the team to Sudan, its terms of reference and other details,” Gyawali told myrepublica.com.
The committee interrogated Inspector General of Police Ramesh Chand Thakuri over the matter some two weeks ago. Gyawali claimed that the parliamentary probe team led by him will never be influenced by any other findings.
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