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The Institute for Ethics and Economic
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Four journalists
investigating corruption arrested in west Nepal. It was reported that the district police office in Rukum
has arrested four journalists on false charges. The arrested persons were Dil
Bahadur Shahi of the Rastriya Samachar Samiti government news agency, Hari
Bishnu Oli of Kantipur daily, Narayan Shah of Dristi weekly and Kamal Thapa
of Chalphal weekly. All four journalists were arrested, when police was
investigating allegations of corruption against a local official. (BBC
Monitoring Service, CIAA puts on hold graft charges against ex-ministers. Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority decided to put on hold the corruption case against former Ministers Arjun Narshingh KC, Omkar Prasad Shrestha, Yamlal Kandel, former Assistant Minister Jhalaknath Wagle and SeniorSuperintendent of Police Hem Bahadur Gurung. CIAA said that in its investigations, on the basis of reports of Judicial Inquiry Commission on Properties, it could not establish the allegations that their earnings were through illegal means, thus their cases have been put on hold. (Kantipur Online, March 31, 2004, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
Anti-corruption drive for pay scale revision: Minister Tamang. Minister for General Administration Buddhi Man Tamang has that said there should be austerity in the use of resources, cut down in unnecessary expenses and elimination of redundant posts to boost up revenue, and productivity of staff. Speaking at a discussion program on Government Pay Structure in Nepal and Long Term Policy Minister Tamang spoke of an anti-corruption strategy for reforming the pay scale policy. “The pay scale policy will be based on the government’s economic capacity and at par with the countries having same economic condition like Nepal,” he said. (Kantipur Online, December 5, 2003, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
NEPAL INTRODUCES BILL ON RIGHT TO INFORMATION According to Finance minister Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, Nepal will introduce a bill on transparency laws to curb corruption activities in the country. Prepared by Napal Law Reform Commission, the bill will maintain transparency in the day-to-day works of the government offices, which in fact respects people’s right to information. (BBC Monitoring Service, 10 Nov 2003, summarized by Hanh Vu).
Lure of lucre makes civil servants straddle both worlds. Despite acquiring permanent
residential visas in the developed countries, hundreds of senior Nepali
bureaucrats have been occupying their positions, thereby creating problems to
the government. Senior bureaucrats in Nepal apply for foreign citizenship
obtain permanent residential visa and spend years in a foreign country under
the cover of long-term leaves. Joint Secretary Madhav Poudel has said that
there is no clear legal provision on this issue. The issue of green card
holder government officers came to the fore after a senior police officer,
was found holding a US green card.
(Kantipur Online, October 27, 2003 summary by Sherldine Tomlinson). Good governance must for poverty reduction. A top World Bank official have said that poverty, the overriding problem of the country, can only be tackled by promoting good-governance and underlined the urgent need to eliminate the absence of trust between the government and the people. Meiko Nishumizu, who is the vice president of the South Asian Region of the World Bank, said that heavy politicisation of public enterprises, lack of accountability of public servants, and lack of policies to address the true needs of the people are some of the greatest failures in the past. Nishumizi further said that the true meaning of good governance is to give the rural people a chance to go to schools, ensure essential drugs supply during needs and allow businessmen to engage in their profession without harassment and extortion. (Kantipur Online, October 24, 2003 summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
Disabled organisation chief alleged for corruption. It was reported that Rukmagat Neupane, co coordinator, Federation of National Disables has alleged against Munishwar Pandey for misusing millions of rupees of the Federation. Neupane informed the press about misuse of fund of the Federation at a press conference organised here. Neupane has further demanded for an investigation on corruption practices taken place at the Federation. He further warned for launching other protest programmes if the concerned sector will not investigate the issue. (Yomari, August 11, 2003, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson). US funds for Nepal “to root out corruption”.. The United States will donate $US7.5 million to Nepal over three years to help the kingdom root out corruption and strengthen the rule of law. Officials say the grant will be used to improve Nepal’s court system and increase access to justice for the poor. Official also say that the money will be used to try to build “more transparent, accountable and effective governance” in Nepal and bolster institutions including the finance ministry and the anti-corruption Commission for the Investigation and Abuse of Authority. International donors have complained in the past that aid delivery has been impeded by corruption and a shaky administrative structure in rural stretches of the Himalayan state. (Asia Pacific, July 4, 2003, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
NEW FM VOWS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS STRENGTHENING. Nepal¹s new finance minister, Dr. Parkash Chandra Lohani says he is committed to strengthening financial institutions to safeguard public deposits and investments. "The government would discourage the attitude of misusing funds collected from the public." He said that the eleven point agenda aimed at maintaining fiscal discipline would make all decisions related to financial matters transparent. "The major focus would be on balancing and consolidating the fiscal and monetary policies for better productivity." As well, Lohani said the government had recently initiated measures to " . . . ensure better monitoring capacity of the central bank." (The Kathmandu Post, June 13, 2003, www.kantipuronline.com. Summary by Janet Hudgins).
corruption body begins work. An anti-corruption panel in Nepal has begun questioning senior politicians and officials. It has summoned more than 40 people following a judicial probe into details of properties belonging to senior figures, following allegations of corruption. The committee will investigate the properties of more than 30,000 politicians and officials. It reportedly found that the properties of about 2,000 people did not match their legal source of income, although its report has not yet been made public. (BBC News, May 19, 2003, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson). Senior Nepal officials corrupt. According to a high-level judicial inquiry, some 2,000 senior officials may have acquired property by corrupt means. The panel investigated details of properties belonging to 30,000 politicians and senior officials following allegations of corruption. The inquiry found that 2,000 of them were suspected of exceeding their known source of income, and is recommending they be further investigated. (BBC News, March 19 2003, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
EX-NEPAL MINISTER HELD ON CORRUPTION Chiranjivi Wagle, former Cabinet minister, who also was a close adviser to former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and mister for physical planning, was detained Wednesday on corruption charges. No details was given by Police. Report said he was the third former minister to be held captive in the last few weeks by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the government's anti-corruption body. King Gyanendra fired Deuba and disbanded the Cabinet for failing to hold elections as scheduled in November. (AP, 20 Nov 2002, summary by Hanh Vu).
Two former Nepalse ministers detained on
suspicion of corruption Two former Cabinet ministers have been
detained on allegations of taking kickbacks and making illegal deals. Nepal’s
anti-corruption body ordered that former Interior Security Minister Khum
Bahadur Khadka and former Information and Communication Minister Jaya Prakash
Gupta be held in police custody for further investigation. The
anti-corruption body, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority,
has been investigating allegations that Khadka took bribes in return for
awarding contracts for construction of bridges and irrigation canals without
first calling for public tenders as required by law. Gupta is accused of
taking kickbacks on the purchase of telecommunications equipment. Both former
ministers have denied the allegations.
(Yahoo News (AP), October 31, 2002, summary
by Sherldine Tomlinson). Nepal to probe political corruption The Nepalese government announced that a new corruption probe into persons who have held public office since the restoration of democracy in 1990. The Minister of Information and Communications Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta said that he had recommended the setting up of a judicial commission to King Gyanendra, to investigate all property held by high officials and their families. The investigation will cover thousands of individuals, from political leaders at the level of Prime Minister to government employees. The three-man commission, comprised of a judge and two former judges, will submit its findings within six months. (BBC News, March 4, 2002, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson). Lalitpur, TRANSPARENCY MUST
MONITOR DEVELOPMENT AID. Economists, planners, social activists and
representatives of international donor agencies participated in a workshop
where they discussed as to why the huge amount of development aid has failed
to accelerate the development process in the country. The need for
strengthening transparency and accountability among donors and recipients was
pointed out by the Minister of Environment and Development Cooperation of
Finland Ms. Satu Hassi, a member of the National Planning Commission (NPC),
the Former Minister and President of the TI Nepal, the Auditor General, and
the Joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance. (Source: TI, The Rising
Nepal, September 3, 2001, summary by Pavlidis George).
ANTI-CORRUPTION ASKS PRIME MINISTER TO CLARIFY AIRCRAFT DEAL The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority is seeking written clarification from Girija Prasad Koirala, Prime Minister, regarding his position on the controversial leasing of Austrian aircraft for the national carrier. Opposition parties have called for Koirala’s resignation due to the corruption allegations and two senior officials of Royal Nepal Airlines were arrested last week. (BBC News, May 2, 2001, summary by Marg Reynolds).
Auditor Says Over
$700 million Missing And Nothing Being Done About It, In one of the worlds
poorest countries, the Auditor General said that over $100 million in
government funds were missing last year.
According to the Public Accounts Committee the possibility of
increasing corruption may be the cause of the missing money. 500 government wages have been blocked
until these accounts are settled. (Yahoo News, September 7, 2000, summary by
Amanda Glatzel). KATMANDU, according to auditor General
Bishnu Bahadur 700 million $ of government funds are missing. In 1999 alone
100 million $ were unaccounted. The Public Accounts Committee of the Nepalese
Parliament blames the growing corruption among officials for the
mismanagement of finances.(NYTimes, Sept. 7, 2000, summarized by Claudia
Hüppmeier). KATMANDU, Although harsh penalties apply
for those convicted and found guilty of engaging in international human
trafficking, an estimated 7000 women fall victim to traffickers each year and
end up in Indian brothels. Although some traffickers are well known, few
prosecutions take place and the burden of proof required results in a low
conviction rate. (AP, July 10, 2000, summary by Desmond Fitzgerald). The Index of Economic Freedom (by Driscoll-Holmes-Kirkpatrick) for 2001 places Nepal in the “Mostly Unfree” category with a rank of 111 (Ranks range from 1 for Hong Kong to 155 for North Korea, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 1, 2000). H. D. Vinod’s trimmed correlation analysis indicates that countries free from economic regulation are less corrupt. After allowing for some exceptions by 20% trimming, the correlation is near 0.9. |
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Design:
Theo den Brinker |
Copyright:
Hrishikesh D. Vinod 2000 |
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