Accountability, Transparency, Anti-Corruption

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Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, 25 April 2020
Accountability, Transparency, Anti-

Former Senior Secretary
corruption Measures
&
Their Impact on Public Administration
By
Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin

A member of Bangladesh Civil Service
Belongs to 84 Batch (Admin)
A class note for the SSC
23 April 2014 at 7.30 pm

BPATC, Savar, Dhaka.
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Historical Development
• Bureau of Anti- Corruption was formed in 1943.

• Since its inception in 1943 until 1983 the organization
functioned as a branch of the Police
• In 1983 a separate employment charter was provided to the
Bureau curtailing its dependency on the police for manpower.
• The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Bangladesh was
created under section 3 of Anti Corruption Commission Act,
2004. The first set of office bearers were appointed on 21
November 2004.
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 Corruption refers to the practice of

 misusing one’s power and position to
 achieve various illegal ends.
 Abuse of entrusted power for private
(illicit) gains
 Complex Phenomenon
Bribes, fraud, extortion, favouritism,
nepotism, embezzlement.
Grey areas: Lobbying, gifts
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Why Corruption is Harmful?

is unfair and harms those without power
results in a loss of values and morality
results in financial loss
results in loss of trust in government, justice and public
services
creates an inefficient society
Impede investment, employment and economic development.
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Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin,

 Misuse of Authority
 Misappropriation of Public Fund
 Cheating public at large
 Bribery
 Asset beyond known source of income
 Money laundering
 Forgery
 Schedule of Anticorruption act 2004
25 April 2020
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Root Causes of Corruption Robert Klitgaard (1988)
C = Monopoly + Discretion – Accountability
Do I have a choice? Complexity, flexibility, Who to whom, and how?

Are there lack of objective Transparency
alternatives? criteria, impossibility of  Information: relevant, exact,
Competition complete control and accessible (in time, space)
complete contracts…  Accountability
Asymmetric Enforcement
information
25 April 2020
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The Dynamics of Corruption

• C =M+D-A-S
• Where, C=Corruption
• M= Monopoly
• D= Discretion
• A= Accountability
• S= Public Sector Salaries
25 April 2020
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Why Transparency & Accountability

in public administration is essential
 Citizens expect public servants to serve the public interest with fairness and to
manage public resources properly on a daily basis.
Fair and reliable public services and predictable decision-making inspire public
trust
 Transparency and accountability in public administration are prerequisites to

public trust.
 Non transparent system invites corruption in public office
 Corruption and maladministration in this context could be seen as not only

individual acts but also the results of systemic failure of state.
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Why transparency & accountability

in public office is essential
Construction infrastructure involves a high percentage of

government investment budgets in all countries. If this
sector is not transparent, corruption may damage this
sector.
People have rights to know their tax money is utilized

properly.
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Transparency Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin,

25 April 2020
• Transparency- making public service delivery

processes & procedures open and visible
• Transparency – Information to citizens on:

▫ Reasons [in writing] why an application is rejected
or a service delayed or denied
▫ Status of Applications
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Major Initiatives to Enhance Transparency Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin,

25 April 2020
• Transparency is about the sharing of information about government

decisions and activities and access to information etc.
• Right to Information Act

• Citizens Charters
• e-Government
• e-procurement
• Protection of whistle-blowers
• Anti corruption act
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Accountability Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin,

25 April 2020
• Accountability - by identifying the responsible

authorities within the system
• Accountability - Penalizing willful non-
performance
• Accountability - Put Citizen First: mechanism for
redress of grievance; compensation
Accountability
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Conditions
CInIn
Integrity Own answer
Law & Rules
 Ensure Optimum use of Resource Internal

End Corruption &

External
Check
Inspection Audit Monitoring & Corrective

Evaluation Measures
Penalty Award /Honor )

Own Satisfaction
Clients Satisfaction
Optimum use of resource
End Corruption
Implementation Process of Accountability
ELEMENTS ISSUES
1. PROCUREMENT • Implement E procurement
2. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT • Ensure strong internal controls
• External audit
• Minimize cash transactions
• Adoption of Merit-Based Performance Incentive
3. DISCLOSURE • Minimize possible conflicts of interest
• Enhance transparency through public disclosure
4. CIVIL SOCIETY ROLE • Greater involvement of Civil Society Organizations
5. COMPLAINTS & REMEDIES • Provide overall complaints and grievances

MECHANISM
mechanism
6. CODE OF ETHICAL CONDUCT • Establish Code of Ethical Conduct
7. SANCTIONS • No sanctions or immunity.
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Is it accountable?
Your organisation wants to hold a association’s meeting. The chairperson tells a
group of you to organise it.
You and a few others organise the meeting but aren’t given any financial support
for this. You need money. You raised money from the voluntary contribution.
You each raise some money but some of it goes missing and you can’t trace whose
brought in what amount.
Also two different invitations go out to the same person.
In the end, the meeting happens and the president takes all the credit for it being
organised and put all blame for you.
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Is it transparent? Former Senior Secretary
Every six months a regional workshop is held in a city outside the country.
A member of your organisation attends these workshops. No one knows when the
workshops are coming up because the invitations and correspondence go directly
to that person.
There’s never any report backs to the organisation. The person gets a handsome
per diem and stays in a nice hotel.
He has some good friends in this city. Normally when he attends the workshop,
he stays for the first day and goes shopping and sightseeing the rest of the time.
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Which of the following acts, you consider as an act

without accountability and why:
• Influencing government contracts in return for financial or

other gains.
• Promotion of unqualified individuals for political reasons or

other gains.
• Favouring relatives and friends e.g. appointing them to

good positions (nepotism).
4/25/2020 Md. Shamsul Arefin 20

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Please indicate how much do you agree with the

following statements:
 I would feel comfortable helping my relative to get

promotion in my office, though he is not qualified.
I would feel comfortable helping my family members to get

a job in my govt office even if they were not as qualified as
another candidate.
 I would feel obligated to use my influence as a civil

servant to help my friend / relative with a problem if I
could.
4/25/2020 Md. Shamsul Arefin 21
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IMPACT OF Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin,

CORRUPTION
Deficiencies
 Lack of transparency • Inefficiency
 Lack of competition
 Monopoly
 Weak Accountability
 Weak transparency • Poor Quality
 High Discretion
• High Cost
POOR SERVICE
DELIVERY
Low investment
Unemployment
Impede economic Developmnet
25 April 2020
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Which Countries Are Corrupted

• The Transparency International 2009 Corruption

Perceptions Index shows that the most honest countries
are Finland, New Zealand, Iceland, Denmark, and
Singapore.
• The most corrupt countries are Haiti, Guinea,

Myanmar, Iraq, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
and Sudan.
• China, Brazil, Ghana, Senegal, Peru, Mexico, Saudi Arabia,
India, and Egypt all rank in the middle of the 163 countries
ranked. Bangladesh ranked 144 last year.
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The Pillars of Anticorruption

Integrity
Risk  Address risks openly Good
Assessment  Promote a culture of discussion Governance
 Foster and protect whistleblowers (anonymity)
Accountability
Participation  More effective and efficient controls
 Involve Civil Society and others (e.g. A (externals, CS, medias etc.)
Report Cards, Integrity Pacts)  Avoid impunity (Law enforcement)
 Train on how to use information? C
Transparency
 Publicise information (e.g. payments, regulatory decisions, Collective
Effective
selection criteria etc.) Action
Leadership
 Is the information accessible? (space, time)
25 April 2020
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Protection of Values Former Senior Secretary
 Now in many cases, people do not feel any hesitation to take

paper, pen or ink from the office to home for personal use. But once
taking pen or pencil or ink from office to home for personal use was
considered as a serious offence.
 Mr Mohammad Ali Ex, Chief Minister of Pakistan after

submitting resignation letter from his office, he took pen of
Bangabhaban with him beyond his knowledge. But when he had
seen the pen in his pocket, he came back and returned it to
Bangabhaban. If this is happened now a days, people might say it is
done just as a administrative standbazi.
25 April 2020
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Teaching of Hazrat Muhammed SA (Peace be upon him)

25 April 2020
 Prophet Hazrat Muhammed SA (Peace be upon him) once appointed Abdullah-

bin –Laithai as Amil (tax collector). At the time of depositing the collected zakat
before the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), Abdullah had divided that
into two parts and said one part of this is zakat money from people, and the other
is the gift presented by people to me.”
 Hearing this, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, “Would the people have
given the gifts to you if you had not been given the responsibility of collecting
zakat?” Saying this, the Prophet of Islam instructed Abdullah to deposit the gifted
amount along with the collected revenue to Baitulmal, and the following morning
issued an official circular prohibiting officials to receive any gift from people.
Another related Hadith is that:

“He who receives bribe, he who offers bribe and the mediator between the
two, are all equally doers of punishable offence”.
6 January 2013
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Case Study 1
One day you are riding your motorcycle and a patrol car stops you on
the motorway because you are not wearing your helmet. The patrol
party tells you to pay a fine of Taka 2,000/-, but will ignore the
violation if you pay him Tk 200.
Questions:
o What is wrong with this behavior?
o Should you pay Taka 200 instead of 2000/-?
25 April 2020
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Case Study 2
Mr. Peter needs to have his Identity Card processed at a government

office. In order to speed up the process and avoid standing in line, he
asks for someone help speeding things up. Later Peter has given him
taka 200 as a gift.
Questions:
o Could Peter’s action be considered illegal?
o Did Peter’s action hurt others?
25 April 2020
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Case Study 3
A young girl has failed her exam twice. She has one more opportunity to
retake the exam. Her parents are afraid she will fail again, which will
drastically reduce her opportunities to find a good job, a good husband, or
to study further. In order to increase her chances of passing, the girl’s
parents try to give an expensive reception to her teacher.
Questions:
o Would it make any difference if the gift was a book or flowers?

o Can you tell a policy option to prevent this kind of situation?
25 April 2020
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Case Study 4
You are an Executive Engineer and you receive a fund for

building a bridge in your project. Your nephew happens to
run a construction company and he makes it very clear that
he expects you to give him the contract because you are
family. You realize that if you decide not to give him the
contract, problems could arise within your family .
Question:
o What do you do?
o Tell a policy option that prevents this from happening again.
25 April 2020
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Anti-Corruption Code of Conduct

o We ensure that we comply with national legislation.
o We shall not offer, promise, solicit or accept any advantage,

either directly or indirectly, in connection with work, without
express permission of the employer. This does not include
conventional hospitality or once-only minor gifts as long as
these will not lead to a position of obligation to the gift giver.
o We will avoid any real and potential conflict between private

and office interests. We will directly report any occurrence of
such a conflict to the responsible supervisor.
o We will not misuse our official position for personal gains or

to favour relatives and friends.
25 April 2020
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Anti-Corruption Code of Conduct

o We will not misuse any office resources or property of the organization
like time, equipment, stationery, etc.
o We will report incidents, risks and issues of corruption committed by
colleagues or others to the responsible supervisor.
o We will treat everyone fairly and equally and will not discriminate with
respect to gender, skin, colour, religion, culture, education, ethnic
affiliation or nationality.
o We ensure transparent, ethical and accountable use of financial and
other resources.
o We commit ourselves to this code of conduct.
o We will make our code of conduct public to our professional partners
and associates, and expect them to respect this policy.
25 April 2020
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Conclusion
Corruption is widespread in some countries because of
 First, the motivation to earn income is extremely strong, aggravated by
poverty and by low and declining civil service salaries and the absence of risk-
spreading Mechanisms.
 Second, opportunities to engage in corruption are numerous. Monopoly rents
seeking behavior.
 The discretion of many public officials is broad in developing and transition
economies, and this systemic weakness is exacerbated by poorly defined, ever
changing, and poorly disseminated rules and regulations.
 Third, accountability is typically weak. Competition are not perfect often

restricted.
 The two parties to a bribe often both benefit, bribery can be extremely difficult to
detect.
 The watchdog institutions are weak
25 April 2020
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Dr. Md. Shamsul Arefin, 25 April 2020