People have recently begun discussing corruption in the civil service. The discussions began slowly and quietly but gradually, they have became louder and more frequent.
Discussions which took place behind closed doors were presented to the public in newspaper editorials. To admit the existence of corruption implies an effort to fight it but it seems that our so-called “special status” which we often misuse led to denials that there is a problem.
It is heartening to know that at last we have admitted that we are human just as all others. What is more important, however, is being able to take practical measures to solve the problem.
And sadly, I do not think we have taken a single step in that direction. All we do is appeal to civil service officials to fear God when doing the job they have been entrusted to do. This is most unfortunately not enough. A corrupt person pays no attention to such an approach; there can be no appeal to the conscience if the conscience is numb. This state only encourages more corruption.
Our laws are obsolete; many have not been changed for decades and date back to times when the world — and Saudi Arabia — was a very different place from what it is today. The laws are full of loopholes that allow violations to go undetected and never risk exposure. It is through these loopholes that corruption is able to flourish so easily.
Civil service servants are given our complete trust. The public trust is then betrayed when it comes to cases in which gross mistakes have been committed. This too encourages corruption since those who are corrupt feel safe and secure.
There have been cases that should have led to the offender being removed from office but in none of them was there even an investigation or questioning. The offender simply goes home or even takes another job somewhere as if nothing at all had happened.
Our monitoring and inspection systems are extremely lax and ineffective and need a complete overhauling. In some cases inspections are even carried out on agreed-upon dates which are known to all concerned. Then too there are the problems of nepotism, favoritism and cronyism and it seems that a formidable barrier protects the guilty.
Looking at these problems, we will quickly realize that the fight against corruption is still in its earliest stages.
8 October 2002
