Corruption and Pakistan

by Usman Zahid on November 23, 2009

It seems like the Pakistani society and corruption go hand-in-hand; I am not labeling the entire society as corrupt but as it is said that the law of averages give a blanket over both the extremes. Corruption seems to be one of the fundamental problems of this country; reigning back to 1950’s. Till date not much has been done; though every time a new government comes over or takes over has talked about tackling with this issue but perhaps corruption is either too widespread in the system or whichever government comes in power falls in love with corruption.

Many experts believe that the current lawlessness, shrinkage of economy and increasing poverty is credited to the corruption in the country. Corruption is like a termite that eats the entire structure of the government which eventually leads to a failure. In Pakistan over a period of year especially during the 1990’s many governments became the victim of high corruption in the system.

Different governments have made little effort for handling the corruption like Pakistan Penal Code of 1960 (PPC), the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1947 (PCA) and the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) of 1999; it is important to note here that NAO initially was drafted to outline the objectives, duties and power of NAB – National Accountability Bureau but after forming of the new government in 2002 NAO was regulated and the Judiciary and personnel of the armed forces were excluded from NAB.

Recently issued report of the Transparency International placed Pakistan on the 142nd number, ranked as the 42nd most corrupt nation, equivalent to Bangladesh, Belarus and Philippines; even Nigeria is at 130th number. Many believe that Transparency International is a an anti-government body, that it is funded by lobbies that want to destabilize the government or give a bad image to the country; I am not a member nor a spokesman of transparency international but I have read the methodology of their rating and it is done by taking at least 6 or maximum 13 independent surveys; which include Country Performance Assessment Ratings by the Asian Development Bank; Global Competitiveness Report by World Economic Forum or Country Policy and International Assessment by World Bank and then there are a number of other independent organization’s reports that are carried over a period of time in a particular year.

Seven surveys were used for compilation of Pakistan’s rating; and the government response to this was made by our interior minister Rehman Malik,

As far as the data collection system of the Transparency International is concerned there are many flaws in the system so the Transparency International’s report placing Pakistan on 42nd number on the list of corrupt nations is not acceptable.

May be 42nd is not acceptable to the minister because he was looking at a number somewhere in 20’s.

When the leaders live on NROs and purchase lands in Islamabad far below the market price; tenders are awarded before being made open in the public (to which I was a victim myself) than why to blame Transparency International or any organization for that matter.

Corruption is having a devastated effect on the country and on the overall economic growth. The entire system of the country has been manhandled with nepotism, misuse of power and widespread of financial and political corruption. A recent case of corruption that was reported was the issuance of licenses of armed weapons by ministry of interior to a security company whereas there was a ban on any such issuance of licenses.

When the bodies like NAB are used for personal enmity and culprits are released on bail before arrest then what to do? And then we complain that Friends of Pakistan only pledge money and does not materialize or fulfill their promises; obviously with such an image which country would like to give their tax payers money to us and why should they? According to media reports in the current year more than PKR 5 billion was used in corruption; now had this sum of money been used in some developing project or on electricity or on sugar the country might not had been in such a mess; corruption money creates double loss for an economy and the nation; one, this money does not come under tax net which severely hurts the exchequer; two, this money is not used in the country or for its development.

With our leaders having their assets in the foreign countries; this level of corruption is most likely to increase then decrease and it seems that our leaders have become shameless because such reports of Transparency International does not affect them anymore. They are least bothered by the fact the corruption has been explicitly condemned in our religion but it seems that it does not matter to them anymore, The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said:

Allah cursed the briber (rashi) and bribe-taker (murtashi). Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-’As [The Office of the Judge (Kitab Al-Aqdiyah) [24:3573], Sunnan Abudawud

If our leaders, bureaucrats and other government officials keep running on this track then one day we will be ranked as the most corrupt country in world! But then at least we will be ranked number one somewhere!

I do not know if we will be proud of it or ashamed of it!

Following is the list of a few most corrupt departments of Pakistan, according to Transparency International;

  1. National Highway Authority (NHA)
  2. Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA)
  3. Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)
  4. Ministry of Water and Power
  5. WAPDA
  6. Pepco
  7. National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK)
  8. Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB)
  9. Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB)
  10. Pakistan Steel
  11. Trading Corporation of Pakistan

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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

1 annylaghari 12.01.09 at 10:57 am

well….most of departments are corrupt then wt can change??

2 MJK 12.01.09 at 11:05 am

Anny i think it won’t be a big problem to start the change process since we all know about the current corruption in Pakistan!

3 Murtaza Hassan 12.01.09 at 11:33 am

Corruption would not be finished till we start serious campaigns in the country. We need campaigns in the country for corruption and extremism. These are two factors that are affecting the growth of our country. Once campaigns and rallies are started and awareness is given we can fight these two factors and give a better tomorrow to the coming generation.

4 Eraj Danish 12.02.09 at 11:58 am

I believe with the above comment pretty much. 2 factors will always stop Pakistan from growing and that our corruption and extremism. Till these two things are not eliminated from out country Pakistan can not grow and attract investment. Taliban and Al qaeeda have already misused this land for terrorism purposes but not any more. We salute the Pak army for running a successful operation and we are with them full heartily.

5 Hira Mir 12.02.09 at 11:59 am

everyday u pick a news paper on the headlines it reads that so and so many people have died. EVERYDAY! Just imagine this country was built on peace!! What these extremists have done to our land. They have to be kicked out of here!! Extreme in any aspect of life has been prohibited and Taliban and Al-qaeeda have misused human lives, wealth and Pakistan to achieve their sole purposes so they must not be forgiven.

6 khan 01.07.10 at 10:16 pm

According to islamic teachings God may forgive the sins of a person against his commands but will not forgive the rights of creature (Haqooqul Ibad) such as credit or amanats in hereafter. I ask Mr. Zardari has he an answer for this question regarding Millions those actuelly belong to pakistani nation?.
khan

7 sunny 03.14.10 at 4:34 am

Reported in The News on 23 Feb 2010

The new Pakistani ambassador to Syria, appointed by President Zardari, has summarily sacked the entire staff and faculty of the Pakistan International School in Damascus and appointed almost all his immediate family members for a collective monthly salary of $38,000 (Rs3.2 million).

The sacked teachers and staff members of the school run by the embassy, who were removed for no reasons and without any prior notice, have been compelled to go into litigation against the Pakistan Embassy, The News has learnt.

The Pakistan International School in Damascus is run by the embassy of Pakistan but within five months after the arrival of new ambassador, Aminullah Raisani, in September 2009, the management and faculty of the school was changed altogether without giving any reason and the school was stuffed with the relatives of the ambassador.

According to the list of newly inducted teachers Saeeda Yasmeen Raeesani has been appointed as Principal. She is sister of the ambassador and is drawing $6,500 per month as salary while the previous principal Syed Tauseef Bokhari was getting $2,500. Another sister, Ms Abbas, has been appointed as Urdu teacher for $3,500 per month.

Two daughters, Amna Aminullah Raeesani and Quratulein Aminullah Raeesani, have been appointed as teachers. These two are getting $3,000 per month as salary while the school was paying only $1,700 for the same job to previous teachers.

Mohammad Ishaque, brother-in-law of the ambassador, has been appointed as accountant for $3,500 per month while the same job was previously with one Imran for just $900 a month.

Attique-ur-Rehman and Syed Muhammad Ali, ambassador’s nephews, have been appointed as business teachers for $3,000 a month while the same job was done for $1,500 only before September 2009.

Nayla Atiq, granddaughter of ambassador’s sister, is working as Maths teacher for $3,000 a month while her predecessor was drawing $1,700 a month as salary. Ali Abdullah, the son-in-law of ambassador’s sister, and Muhammad Ahsan Shafique, ambassador’s cousin, have been appointed as teachers for $3,000 a month while their predecessors were drawing $1,500 a month.Another cousin of the ambassador, Rasheed Chattha, has been appointed as biology teacher for $3,500 a month while previously Ms Manal Sileman was doing the same job for $1,500 a month.

Ms Manal Sileman, one of the Syrian teachers of the Pakistani school who has been sent home without giving any notice and without any reason, while talking to The News from Damascus on phone said that it was strange that an ambassador instead of running the affairs of the embassy was keen in the business of the school.

She lamented that the ambassador has imported Chinese shoes and made it mandatory for every student to purchase those shoes at much higher rates. She said that the school was being ruined as the new incompetent teachers have been hired for more than double the salaries the previous faculty was getting.

Another teacher Saad al Hassan said that he has gone to the court with a heavy heart because he has served the school and Pakistan and now the court will issue an order against the Republic of Pakistan.

He said that he has respect for the Pakistani nation but because of a few people he has been compelled to go into litigation against the embassy and according to the Syrian laws the Pakistan Embassy in Damascus could be heavily penalised.

Saad said that the school was rated among the best in Damascus and the elite, including the foreign minister of Syria and deputy foreign minister, had started sending their kids to the Pakistan International School of Damascus but with the advent of new administration many have opted for other schools in the city.

He said that last year the school won eight gold medals in the Cambridge examination and the income of the school in 2006 was US$2,042,400 per annum and it rose to $4,774,000 per annum in 2009 with the number of students almost doubled i.e. from 600 to 1,100.

Ambassador Aminullah Raisani was too busy to talk to this correspondent. However his spokesman Zahid Ali who works as Counsellor in the embassy denied all these allegations. He said that the previous management was incompetent that was why it was sent packing while competent people have now been inducted in the school.

Zahid said that it was not true that the newly appointed teachers were drawing more salaries than the previous management. “We write to the Foreign Office of Pakistan about our tasks here,” Zahid replied when asked about some teachers going into litigation against the embassy.

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