Editorial
ACC's remit curtailed
Can't sue public officials on its own
WE are taken aback by the legislation requiring the anti-graft body to seek permission of the government before proceeding against any public official alleged to have committed corruption. This amendment to the ACC Act has been bulldozed through a voice vote in parliament. In the process was totally ignored the criticism that the proposal for such a change had drawn over the last two and a half years. Even the concerned parliamentary committee had recommended against such a move. Whereas the anti-graft body was envisaged to be an effective instrument capable of acting independently against the corrupt, it has been gradually stripped off its teeth.
Bureaucracy is the public face of the government having considerable public dealings including handling of development projects and delivery of services. It has also to do with expenditure of public money and utilisation of budgetary allocations in different sectors.
The provision for the ACC to seek government permission before suing any public official has serious implications: First, it is discriminatory to treat them separately from other potentially corrupt people. Secondly, protecting them may amount to shielding corruption in higher places.
The overarching fact is that there is no point in having an ACC in the likeness of the infamous Anti-Corruption Bureau of the earlier days which was nothing but an appendage to the PMO.
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