More than 100 staff members of the National Anti-Corruption Authority (NACA) will take their oaths of office in front of its Chairman Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Sharif, Al-Madinah newspaper reported Monday.
The national body to battle corruption with wide-ranging powers to hunt down offenders was established as per a royal decree issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on March 18, 2011.
All staff members of the authority, including administrative officials, legal consultants, law experts and heads of department, will take their oaths in the name of Allah and pledge to be sincere and honest in their duty to unearth all forms of corruption as well as to verify and thoroughly check the integrity of any information they receive before taking any legal action.
They will promise to discharge their duties without fear or favor, affection or ill will, and that they will furnish any information that helps the authority to track down those involved in possible corruption. The officials will also declare their assets. The authority is composed of several government officials as well as those retired from public service.
The NACA, which has a mandate to deal with all forms of corruption, was empowered to directly receive petitions from the public as well as to track down stolen money. It aims to protect integrity, promote the principle of transparency, and fight against financial and administrative corruption in all its forms and manifestations.
The NACA had launched earlier a three-month media awareness campaign urging citizens and residents to report any cases of corruption they come across.
The campaign had highlighted how corruption harms society as a whole and ways to report corruption in the public or private sector.
It also urged citizens and foreigners to cooperate fully with the authority to put an end to corruption that seeped into the veins of society. The authority also unveiled plans to establish a website through which residents can report corruption.
Normally, the body receives information through telephone calls, fax messages, post and face-to-face contact.
In addition to this, NACA Chairman Muhammad Al-Sharif recently said that the authority had asked all government departments and private companies to erect signboards containing relevant information of projects at their locations.
He clarified that the signboards must include details such as the name of the project, the name of the contractor, the date of the contract signing, the name of the consultant, the execution period and the deadline to complete the project.
“We can use this information to check if there is any financial or administrative corruption,” he said, adding that the information on the signboards will enable members of the public to monitor the project and report any delays or corruption.
