Corruption Report Card -FAIL!

Malaysia’s Corruption Report

This really makes depressing reading and more information should be provided for a better analysis.

A former PM proclaimed that corruption is now “above the table” and even a deputy minister officially has stated that we have moved down the Transparency Index as local councils were akin to secret societies. We appear to have done little since the leadership proclaimed (?) a fight against the national cancer.

The Auditor-General or a Parliamentary Committee should also examine the activities of the ACA to provide the full details of the corruption numbers. When only a small percentage of reports being acted upon, it seems that is some leeway for corruption reports to be sidelined by the ACA itself. We also know that for every report made there are possibly 10 to 50 cases that have not been reported.

There have also been studies that indicate that corruption costs everyone 25% more just to live within the system.

So what is missing from the analysis? These should be in the table*

Year
Reports
Value
Investigated
Outcome
Arrested
Charged
Court decision

All reports must be investigated if we are going to win the battle against corruption. Since corruption is perceived to be serious, we should be having at least 60% of all reports investigated to start the drive.

Under the Outcome column, the investigating officer’s report must include one of the following:

1. No evidence
2. Witness unreliable
3. False accusation
4. Accused passed away

Action can also be taken against those who make a false report and the estate of an accused can also be confiscated.

The ACA audit would also examine the various files to ensure that everything is in order.

The value of the report can also determine the priority of the case. If we have sharks to catch, it is a waste of time to look for ikan bilis.

Having an extra 600 staff to fight corruption may not be sufficient and perhaps the government should second another 2000 staff from various government departments and replace those with contract employees for say 2 years.

If you look at the numbers carefully, only 954 were charged in court out of 57194 reports or 1.67% and we don’t know how many of them were convicted.
If the ACA handles cases like the police, we are indeed doomed to failure.


*If anyone can advise how to insert the table I would be grateful.
photo: from malaysiakini