Corruption is prevalent in every sector of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) where significant political influence is seen in different activities, the Bangladesh chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) revealed in a new report yesterday.
The CAG, a constitutional body responsible for auditing government receipts and public spending, cannot work independently because of persistent political influence, TIB officials said at a press conference in the capital arranged to disclose the survey findings.
The report shows that the CAG officials and employees are involved in taking bribes ranging from Tk4,000 to Tk5,00,000.
The minimum bribery amount is taken usually for disposal of objections in tripartite meetings while the maximum amount is charged for recruitment of auditors, employees and drivers for the CAG office; for conducting annual audit by local and revenue audit department; and for doing audit for foreign-funded projects, it says.
The research shows that for the recruitment of an employee at the CAG office, there is influence from ministers, state ministers, lawmakers and the heads of the parliamentary standing committees.
Refuting the anti-graft campaigner’s findings, a top CAG official termed the report “unethical.” The official also questioned the standard of the survey.
In its November last year report, the TIB found that the drug administration had also been knee-deep in corruption where the employees and staff take Tk500-10 lakh as bribes from service seekers.
The TIB earlier published reports on the CAG office in 2002 and 2012.
“The CAG’s move to identify and control corruption has become uncontrolled,” Dr Iftekharuzzaman, the TIB executive director, told the briefing.
Sultana Kamal, chairperson of TI trustee board, said: “The CAG office cannot work independently as it has to share the audit findings with the Prime Minister’s Office. The PMO’s audit is also done by the auditors of the CAG.
“The constitutional right of the CAG is violated since it has been made liable to the Prime Minister’s Office.”
The report was prepared after collecting information from public servants of 40 government offices from March, 2013 to December, 2014.
The TIB states that political influence is seen while recruiting a CAG since the president has to take suggestion from the prime minister in this regard. “In that case, sometimes politically-influential officials are recruited,” the report says.
First-class auditors are recruited through the Public Service Commission but the others – auditors, junior auditors and employees – through the CAG office. The research found proof of political lobbying, bribery and corruption in the procedures.
Last year, almost half of the 413 newly-recruited officials and employees had to pay Tk3,00,000-Tk14,00,000 to get the job, the report says.
It was also found that many officials in the directorates under the CAG never want to get transferred as the “corrupt officials make their own way to income illegally. But it is mandatory to be transferred from one directorate to another after every three years.”
The report says an audit official went to foreign missions 47 times whereas there are many others who never get a chance to go abroad once in their career. Such malpractice takes place due to nepotism.
The research also spotted negligence in duty including lack of accountability at the director general level, lack of monitoring in field-level activities, no punitive measures for malpractices and not maintaining proper standard in preparing the audit reports.
The TIB in its 20-point recommendation stressed appointment of sufficient manpower, ensuring accountability of the auditors and enacting audit laws.
One of the three deputy CAGs said: “The TIB brought these allegations in a views exchange programme with us. We sent all the related documents to the TIB office today [Thursday].”
The official, asking not to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone: “The TIB in July told us that they did not find any graft activities in the CAG office among all the government offices. But I wonder what happened in the last six months that puts us as a top corrupt institution!”
Refuting the allegations of bribery, the top CAG official observed that the auditors would not have managed Tk8,000 crore to Tk12,000 crore annually had most of the auditors were corrupt.
When contacted and told about the senior CAG official’s comments, Dr Iftekhar said they had conducted the survey maintaining national and international standards. He said they had all related documents about the claims.
“Last year, the CAG’s performance was better among 15 government bodies in a survey on good governance. They are not the most corrupt agency. But it does not mean they are above the law.
“To improve image, the CAG will have to overcome the challenges,” the TIB official added.
