JEDDAH, 8 February 2008 — The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has referred to the General Bureau of Supervision (GBS) a number of cases concerning corruption in government departments.
“We have received a number of complaints related to corruption in government departments and have asked the bureau to investigate them,” said Dr. Bandar Al-Hajjar, president of the society.
The NSHR chief said the complaints were made by government employees, who spoke about discrepancies in financial matters. “We have already informed the General Bureau of Supervision about the corruption cases,” he said.
The GBS is entrusted with the task of monitoring the management of finances by government departments.
“The society is not in a position to ascertain the veracity of the corruption charges and that is the reason we have passed the complaints to the relevant authorities,” Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted Al-Hajjar as saying. He did not say how many complaints he had received but pointed out that there were a few cases.
Last week, a delegation from the society visited the bureau and discussed ways of increasing cooperation between the two bodies, especially in matters that concern the GBS.
Al-Hajjar said that during talks, Osama Faqeeh, president of the GBS, spoke about the bureau’s efforts to end bureaucratic hurdles in government departments. Faqeeh also briefed the NSHR delegation on GBS’ powers and mission. This is the first time that government employees are reporting corruption in their departments.
Last year, the Council of Ministers adopted a new strategy to fight corruption. Under the strategy, a national commission will be set up to fight corruption, follow up on the implementation of the strategy and monitor its results.
Government departments have been instructed to follow the rules and regulations to fight corruption and reduce bureaucratic red tape. All government officials, irrespective of their positions, will be questioned for their actions.
The GBS is one of the agencies that have been charged with implementing the plan to end corruption. Based in Riyadh, the GBS has seven branches in various parts of the Kingdom. The agency will begin electronic monitoring of government accounts shortly as part of the Kingdom’s plan to expand e-government services.
