Malaysia immigration anti-corruption / Pakistan civil service perception / Nepal graft cases claims

Technology vs corruption.  “We have developed several online services…We have also introduced e-payment facilities for our services…By doing this, there will no longer be incidents of “kehilangan wang awam” (loss of public money) when a certain amount of cash goes missing…Also, by introducing the MyTravelPass (a single window system to manage entrance and exit applications) we have managed to reduce the discretionary power of immigration officers, hence closing off another possible avenue of power abuse.”

Mazwin Nik Anis/The Star: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/focus/2020/12/27/technology-vs-corruption  

 

Public perception about civil service (Opinion).  “The public feels that [Pakistan’s] civil service is corrupt; breeds a culture of non-responsiveness, apathy, elitism and arrogance; and enjoys excessive perks in the form of official vehicles, palatial residences and unlimited allowances.”

Hasaan Khawar/The Express Tribune: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2276908/1   

 

CIAA claimed Rs 2.53 billion from defendants of graft cases in 2019-20.  “[Nepal’s] Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed as many as 441 chargesheets against 1,212 persons, mostly public office holders, at the Special Court, claiming around Rs 2.53 billion [approx. USD 21.5 mil] in question from them in the fiscal 2019-20.”

The Himalayan Times: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/ciaa-claimed-rs-2-53-billion-from-defendants-of-graft-cases-in-2019-20/  

Myanmar corporate transparency / Samsung compliance review / Climate targets hindrance

Overall corporate transparency in Myanmar improves in 2020, report says.  "While corporate governance and transparency in Myanmar has improved for the private sector this year compared to 2019, conditions at State-Owned Economic Enterprises (SEE) have yet to make similar progress, according to the Pwint Thit Sa Report 2020 issued by the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB)."

Salai Tun Tun/Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/overall-corporate-transparency-myanmar-improves-2020-report-says.html  

 

Samsung's compliance body receives 'constructive review'.  "Samsung's self-created compliance committee received a constructive review from a court advisory panel…[recognizing] its effectiveness as a watchdog in ensuring the country's top conglomerate abided by the law and improved group-wide management transparency.As the group's leader Lee Jae-yong is undergoing a high court re-hearing over a bribery scandal involving [the Republic of Korea's] jailed former president Park, it remains to be seen whether the group's efforts to be as transparent as possible will affect the ruling."

Baek Byung-yeul/The Korea Times: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2020/12/133_301178.html  

 

Paris Agreement climate targets are being missed because of corruption (Blog).  "Governments, and international and multilateral organisations, are making a green recovery part of their plans for post-COVID-19. But in order to save the planet, corruption must be addressed, as the two are inextricably linked…[As] political interference and the undue influence of oil and gas companies weakens institutions and governance processes put in place to mitigate climate change. "

Brice Böhmer/Transparency International: https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/paris-agreement-climate-targets-corruption

Indonesia cabinet reshuffle / India CBI manual update / Myanmar systemic corruption

Amid Corruption and COVID-19, Jokowi Shakes Up Indonesia’s Cabinet.  “Four ministers were fired and two others were rotated to more important positions, ending weeks of speculation about possible changes to the cabinet line-up…The reshuffle also replaced two ministers arrested recently for corruption.”

Sebastian Strangio/The Diplomat: https://thediplomat.com/2020/12/amid-corruption-and-covid-19-jokowi-shakes-up-indonesias-cabinet/  

 

CBI to finish majority of its corruption probes in nine months.  “The [Indian] Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to complete the majority of its probes under Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act within a maximum of nine months, according to the latest Crime Manual of the agency, updated after 15 years.”

Neeraj Chauhan/The Hindustan Times: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/cbi-to-finish-majority-of-its-corruption-probes-in-nine-months/story-qhmjgzg0vi1pS6YK5unUkK.html  

 

Nodes of Corruption, Lines of Abuse (Report). “Justice For Myanmar’s detailed investigation into the Myanmar military’s systemic corruption within the information and communications sector has uncovered public asset theft, exposed new military procurement networks and revealed the global network of businesses complicit in enabling the Myanmar military to continue to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Justice for Myanmar: https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/nodes-of-corruption-lines-of-abuse-how-mytel-viettel-and-a-global-network-of-businesses-support-the-international-crimes-of-the-myanmar-military

IMF transparency measures / Bangladesh climate change investments / Republic of Korea president approval rating

A Covid-19 Checkup: How the IMF’s Transparency Measures Have Fared So Far (Blog).  “In short, it seems that the IMF—in part due to the prodding and pressure from civil society—has struck roughly the right balance between speed and transparency. Now that Covid vaccinination has begun, anticorruption officials ought to turn towards making sure the IMF checks the receipts that countries have been told to so diligently keep and works with countries to return to their pre-pandemic budgeting practices.”

Clay Hackney/The Global Anticorruption Blog: https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2020/12/18/a-covid-19-checkup-how-the-imfs-transparency-measures-have-fared-so-far/  

 

Climate change investments in Bangladesh: leveraging dual-use characteristics as an anti-corruption tool (Working Paper).  “corruption has not affected all climate change projects equally or in the same way, even when implemented by the same agency, funded by the same funder, and therefore with identical formal governance arrangements. In this paper, we show that the effectiveness of monitoring by local communities plays an important role in explaining these differences.”

Mushtaq Khan et al./SOAS-ACE: https://ace.soas.ac.uk/publication/climate-change-investments-in-bangladesh/  

 

Moon's approval rating rebounds from record low: Realmeter.  “An analyst at Realmeter assessed that the latest rebound may have been driven by [the Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in's] strengthened message in key issues, such as the parliamentary passage of a law facilitating the launch of a high-profile corruption investigation body, the state response against the resurgence of COVID-19 and on the the political feud between Choo and Yoon.”

The Korea Herald: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20201221000606  

Myanmar infrastructure risks / Viet Nam anti-corruption wins trust / Public procurement-open ownership

MDBs in Myanmar: risk regulators on complex infrastructure projects? (Blog).  “Considering the context of Myanmar, which is a new and weak democracy within a corruption-prone landscape, risk mitigation based on an awareness of the local political economy is essential. MDBs must take on a more engaged “risk regulator” role rather than leave responsibility to the government.”

Sayuri Ichikawa and Rual Thang/New Mandala: https://www.newmandala.org/mdbs-in-myanmar-risk-regulators-on-complex-infrastructure-projects/  

 

Vietnam’s Communists brace for next 5 years after big 2020. “‘While the Vietnamese economy is basically stable, the party has gained more trust from citizens thanks to positive results from the anti-corruption campaign and reshuffle of the party,’ said the 76-year-old Trong, who is party general secretary, as well as Vietnam's president and controls the armed forces as secretary of the Central Military Commission.”

Tomoya Onishi/Nikkei Asia: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/Vietnam-s-Communists-brace-for-next-5-years-after-big-2020   

 

Transforming procurement systems, one prototype at a time (Blog). “For this project, [Open Ownership] has built on Bluetail, a prototype system that uses [beneficial ownership (BO)], procurement, and politically exposed person (PEP) data to automatically flag corruption risks in tenders. The aim for this project is to understand the benefits of using these prototypes in our target countries, whilst making the case for the standardisation of BO data.”

Steve Day/Open Ownership: https://www.openownership.org/blogs/tps-prototyping/    

Malaysia anti-corruption recommendations / Indonesia possible cabinet reshuffle / Nepal medical procurement

Rooting Out Corruption in Malaysia (Op-Ed).  “The following policy recommendations by the C4 and fully endorsed by EMIR Research for the Perikatan Nasional government under Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin are as follows, namely: (a) the necessity to revive and table the Government Procurement Bill by early next year; and (b) that the Special Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption (JKKMAR) be empowered and authorised to monitor and call out those that delay the implementation of the [National Anti-Corruption Plan.”

Jason Loh/The ASEAN Post: https://theaseanpost.com/article/rooting-out-corruption-malaysia  

 

Cabinet shake-up on table amid graft, virus failures.  “[Indonesia’s] President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo may now be more inclined to reshuffle his Cabinet – a threat he has been using to spur miniters into action since late June – following his administration’s lackluster pandemic response and the arrest of two of his minister [on graft charges], experts have said.”

Marchio Irfan Gorbiano and Rizki Fachriansyah/The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2020/12/20/cabinet-shake-up-on-table-amid-graft-virus-failures.html   

 

‘Corrupt’ CIAA tasked with probing Covid corruption.  “Nine months after reports surfaced of the massive corruption involved in procuring medical equipment from China, the Public Account Committee...[directed Nepal’s Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA)] to take action against the officials who were involved in misusing the Covid-19 coffers.”

The Record Nepal: https://www.recordnepal.com/wire/features/corrupt-ciaa-tasked-with-probing-covid-corruption/  

Thank you to Narayan Manandhar for sharing this news.

Corruption impacts healthcare / Myanmar ACC complaints / Tackling infrastructure corruption

The Ignored Pandemic Behind COVID-19: the Impact of Corruption on Healthcare Service Delivery (Publication).  “This paper brings together worldwide evidence of six key corruption manifestations at the point of service delivery: informal payments from patients; embezzlement and theft; absenteeism; corrupt service provision activities, such as overcharging and false treatment reimbursement claims; favouritism; and manipulation of data.”

Transparency International: http://ti-health.org/content/corruption-covid-19-coronavirus-health-delivery/

 

Anti-Corruption Commission receives over 5,000 complaint letters as of November 2020.  “Myanmar Anti-Corruption Commission received more than 5,000 complaint letters in eleven months of 2020, which is the lowest number of letters in three years…the anti-corruption commission received 10,543 complaint letters in 2018 and 9,394 letters in 2019 across the country.”

The Global New Light of Myanmar: https://www.gnlm.com.mm/anti-corruption-commission-receives-over-5000-complaint-letters-as-of-november-2020/  

 

As countries sit on shaky foundations, tackling corruption in infrastructure is key (Blog).  “We present three case study examples of strategies to mitigate corruption risks…First, the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST) offers a multi-stakeholder approach to strengthening governance in the infrastructure sector through improved transparency, stakeholder engagement and accountability…Second, Public-private partnership (PPP) renegotiation of infrastructure projects…The third case examines…Open Contracting”

Ian Hawkesworth/World Bank: https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/countries-sit-shaky-foundations-tackling-corruption-infrastructure-key