Let’s learn from Kuwait Thursday, 13 October 2011 04:45

Over the past two weeks, Kuwait has been on roil as never before after Al Qabas newspaper reported a whopping 25m Kuwaiti dinars (about $90m) deposited by unnamed sources in the bank accounts of two unnamed members of parliament.

The report led to an investigation into what is probably the biggest scam in the country in years. The probe so far has involved 9 of the 50 members of parliament. Dubbed “Kuwaiti Watergate” by the New York Times, the scam prompted the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers to approve a draft anti-corruption law as public outcry got shriller. The National Assembly’s legal and legislative affairs committee is now looking into its provisions that include disclosure of assets by public servants and setting up of an anti-corruption authority.

The prime minister, ministers, the Assembly speaker, MPs and top government bureaucrats come in its ambit. They will need to disclose their assets at the time of assuming office and at regular intervals. The draft law specifies jail sentences of up to seven years and a fine not exceeding KD7,000 if one is found to have exploited public office for illegal gains and a maximum of five years in jail and a KD3,000 fine for falsifying information in their financial statement.

The draft law is slated to be ready before the opening of the new term of the Assembly on October 25. If passed the law would be a positive outcome of the scandal.

Al Rai newspaper recently reported that a study done by the Office of Excellence in the University of Kuwait found that 5 percent of Kuwaiti employees took bribes. The rate increased to 15 percent in the government sector, with tax and customs officials benefiting the most.

Countries in the Gulf, with its galloping rate of growth and expanding economic activities, should learn from the Kuwaiti experience and put corrective measures in place.

Qatar, in Article 38 of its old constitution, barred ministers from business or commercial transactions with the State while in office.

However, the new constitution does not have a similar provision, nor is any legislation is in place setting a clear benchmark for such dealings.

We do not have a law that requires ministers and other government officials to declare their assets and liabilities before and after taking office either.

We need to build standards and procedures that would combat graft and corruption. Remember, one major factor for the mass support for the Arab Spring revolution, especially in Egypt and Tunisia, was the widespread corruption in those regimes.

A majority of countries in the world have laws that require public officials to present regular financial statements. In the United States, the Ethics Act requires detailed financial disclosure by high-level government employees in all three branches of the federal government.

These required disclosures include the nature, source, and amount of income, gifts and reimbursements, assets and liabilities, and transactions in property and securities.

Since Qatar is in the process of moving towards a parliamentary system, having systems and procedures in place that will hold government officials accountable will discourage corruption and misuse of public funds.

It will also avert a potential political crisis that would incite popular protest like the ones in Kuwait. We already have an Audit Bureau, established in 1973, that can help monitor suspicious transactions and financial irregularities among ministers and government officials.

The country has made impressive progress in terms of creating transparency in the government and fighting corruption. In the 2010 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International, Qatar ranks 19 in the world and is No 1 in the Middle East and North Africa region. This is a big improvement from its 22nd worldwide rank in 2009.

We must, however, be not complacent. There are plenty of mega projects coming up such as the Qatar 2022, that may prove too tempting to resist for some.

By having a law in place at this early stage, we can prevent many of the problems that bedevil neighbours like Kuwait.

The Peninsula