The Algerian government plans to use the 2006 Anti-Corruption Law to stem the tide of state funds now allegedly flowing into bureaucrats' pockets.
By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 17/12/09
Algeria is probing corruption cases in the wake of public outrage over the alleged misappropriation of billions of dinars and other manipulation of government projects for personal gain.
"The corruption cases revealed lately are just the tip of the iceberg," financial journalist Slim Abdulrahman said last week. "What lies under wraps is far greater."
The government estimates that $1.7 billion in public-sector funds have been lost to corruption.
Finance Minister Karim Djoudi has unleashed investigations into the scandal-plagued agriculture, water resources and transportation ministries, among others, to snuff out fraudulent contracts and exchanges of funds.
"The investigations squads conducted 128 monitoring operations across the concerned sectors in 2009 to look into some of the scandals. Also, 154 reports were issued on the reported transgressions," he told Magharebia on Monday (December 14th), adding that hundreds of similar monitoring operations and investigations were conducted in the general directorates of customs and taxes.
The investigations were set in motion by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who on October 28th called for the creation of a National Anti-Corruption Committee at the start of the new legislative year, setting in motion compliance with an article in the 2006 Anti-Corruption Law.
The president also pledged the fair use of several legislative and regulatory mechanisms in order to bring to justice all those involved in corruption cases.
The new anti-corruption measures also mean that more than 70% of the projects currently under way have been reassessed by the National Fund for Preparation for Development, which monitors funding for 72% of all public projects.
New projects will also face a heightened level of scrutiny. "All acts of reassessing the cost of achieving major projects [must] be submitted to the cabinet for review," Djoudi told Magharebia, relaying the words of the president.
Addressing Parliament on December 11th, Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz announced that 5,086 people have been convicted and sentenced to prison for corruption since the passage of the 2006 Anti-Corruption Law. In the first half of 2009 alone, 673 people were convicted and sentenced for corruption.
Algerians expressed outrage over the misuse of funds, pointing out that oil revenues should not be used to line bureaucrats' pockets.
"It makes no sense to see some employees basking in affluence, without being held accountable, or even asked where they got that wealth from over such a short period of time," said Mohamad, who works as a civil servant.
Omar, who at 27 is unemployed, criticized how corruption cases are prosecuted.
"How can they prosecute an official or a small number of civil servants for committing major crimes, while turning a blind eye to the higher authorities who shoulder the biggest responsibility?" he asked.
Over the past few years, Algerians have watched as government ministries have misappropriated public funds for corrupt practices.
By far the biggest scandal to hit the government so far is the misuse of Ministry of Public Works funds for a 1,200-km highway intended to link Algeria's borders with Tunisia and Morocco. Several high-ranking ministry officials were found guilty of corruption, while the chief financial officer in the ministry will face charges, as reported on December 10th by the daily El Watan.
Another scandal erupted after a high-ranking official in the Fisheries Ministry was found guilty of orchestrating illegal business deals with foreign parties.
Along with misuse of public funds, Algerians have also been besieged by accounts of bank scandals.
A spate of financial malfeasance in private banking firms led the Algerian government to revoke the licenses of all private banks. Several banking officials were convicted of corruption, while the former head of Union Bank fled the country. An authority whose duty it was to monitor national banks was charged with corruption after a 3-trillion dinar deficit was posted at the Algerian National Bank.
These latest banking scandals came on the heels of the Khalifa Bank collapse, which is considered the largest case of financial fraud in Algerian history.
As a result of these recent misdeeds, Algeria has seen its ranking by the watchdog Transparency International fall 19 spots to 111, despite the passage of the 2006 Anti-Corruption Law and a rising rate of corruption convictions.
Abdulrahman believes the government waited too long to address the problem.
"Facts disclosed the lack of any in-depth field action to combat corruption and bribery, especially on the local level," he said, adding that fighting corruption "calls for activating existing legal measures ... and mustering enough courage to prosecute all those involved in corruption cases".
The financial journalist said that all guilty parties must be pursued under the law. "It doesn't make sense to prosecute some of those involved in a case and hand down sentences against them, while others get away with what they did."
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/12/17/feature-01.
By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 17/12/09
Algeria is probing corruption cases in the wake of public outrage over the alleged misappropriation of billions of dinars and other manipulation of government projects for personal gain.
"The corruption cases revealed lately are just the tip of the iceberg," financial journalist Slim Abdulrahman said last week. "What lies under wraps is far greater."
The government estimates that $1.7 billion in public-sector funds have been lost to corruption.
Finance Minister Karim Djoudi has unleashed investigations into the scandal-plagued agriculture, water resources and transportation ministries, among others, to snuff out fraudulent contracts and exchanges of funds.
"The investigations squads conducted 128 monitoring operations across the concerned sectors in 2009 to look into some of the scandals. Also, 154 reports were issued on the reported transgressions," he told Magharebia on Monday (December 14th), adding that hundreds of similar monitoring operations and investigations were conducted in the general directorates of customs and taxes.
The investigations were set in motion by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who on October 28th called for the creation of a National Anti-Corruption Committee at the start of the new legislative year, setting in motion compliance with an article in the 2006 Anti-Corruption Law.
The president also pledged the fair use of several legislative and regulatory mechanisms in order to bring to justice all those involved in corruption cases.
The new anti-corruption measures also mean that more than 70% of the projects currently under way have been reassessed by the National Fund for Preparation for Development, which monitors funding for 72% of all public projects.
New projects will also face a heightened level of scrutiny. "All acts of reassessing the cost of achieving major projects [must] be submitted to the cabinet for review," Djoudi told Magharebia, relaying the words of the president.
Addressing Parliament on December 11th, Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz announced that 5,086 people have been convicted and sentenced to prison for corruption since the passage of the 2006 Anti-Corruption Law. In the first half of 2009 alone, 673 people were convicted and sentenced for corruption.
Algerians expressed outrage over the misuse of funds, pointing out that oil revenues should not be used to line bureaucrats' pockets.
"It makes no sense to see some employees basking in affluence, without being held accountable, or even asked where they got that wealth from over such a short period of time," said Mohamad, who works as a civil servant.
Omar, who at 27 is unemployed, criticized how corruption cases are prosecuted.
"How can they prosecute an official or a small number of civil servants for committing major crimes, while turning a blind eye to the higher authorities who shoulder the biggest responsibility?" he asked.
Over the past few years, Algerians have watched as government ministries have misappropriated public funds for corrupt practices.
By far the biggest scandal to hit the government so far is the misuse of Ministry of Public Works funds for a 1,200-km highway intended to link Algeria's borders with Tunisia and Morocco. Several high-ranking ministry officials were found guilty of corruption, while the chief financial officer in the ministry will face charges, as reported on December 10th by the daily El Watan.
Another scandal erupted after a high-ranking official in the Fisheries Ministry was found guilty of orchestrating illegal business deals with foreign parties.
Along with misuse of public funds, Algerians have also been besieged by accounts of bank scandals.
A spate of financial malfeasance in private banking firms led the Algerian government to revoke the licenses of all private banks. Several banking officials were convicted of corruption, while the former head of Union Bank fled the country. An authority whose duty it was to monitor national banks was charged with corruption after a 3-trillion dinar deficit was posted at the Algerian National Bank.
These latest banking scandals came on the heels of the Khalifa Bank collapse, which is considered the largest case of financial fraud in Algerian history.
As a result of these recent misdeeds, Algeria has seen its ranking by the watchdog Transparency International fall 19 spots to 111, despite the passage of the 2006 Anti-Corruption Law and a rising rate of corruption convictions.
Abdulrahman believes the government waited too long to address the problem.
"Facts disclosed the lack of any in-depth field action to combat corruption and bribery, especially on the local level," he said, adding that fighting corruption "calls for activating existing legal measures ... and mustering enough courage to prosecute all those involved in corruption cases".
The financial journalist said that all guilty parties must be pursued under the law. "It doesn't make sense to prosecute some of those involved in a case and hand down sentences against them, while others get away with what they did."
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/12/17/feature-01.
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