How Bangladesh enables a system of pervasive corruption

Illustration: TBS

Before the anti-quota protests took the nation by storm, the media in Bangladesh for weeks was awash with news of alleged corruption committed by both high-profile and low-ranking government officials.

From former police chief Benazir Ahmed, former DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia, former military chief Aziz Ahmed, the Prime Minister's former peon Jahangir [which the PM herself exposed], to former PSC driver Syed Abed Ali – every case we have heard about so far has involved hundreds of crores.

The question, however, is, why are we hearing about these alleged cases of corruption long after the alleged perpetrators have retired? The Anti-Corruption Commission is reportedly now looking into them, but what about internal inquiry mechanisms of the institutions these people had served?

Does it mean that as long as these officials maintained their high-ranking positions they were untouchable?

A former head of NBR says that internal monitoring or inquiry mechanisms of these institutions are virtually ineffective because "the system forces all to participate in the corruption".

This has again raised the question if Bangladesh is somehow enabling a system of corruption. However surprising the amount of money the officials amassed over the years may seem, the names surfacing in the limelight within the security forces, or NBR, or other sectors were hardly surprising, because this system has been blamed for enabling corruption for quite some time.

In a 2021 survey by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), law enforcement agencies, especially RAB and the police, were perceived to be among the most corrupt in the service sector that year, followed by the BRTA and passport sectors. The TIB survey found that some 74.4% of surveyed households were victims of corruption by law enforcement agencies.

"There is a security cell in the police; I am not sure what they call it now. In fact, someone in every department of the government is responsible for overseeing and monitoring that particular department," said former police chief Muhammad Nurul Huda.

He said although the ACC is specially tasked with investigating the illegal acquisition of wealth beyond the legitimate sources of income of public servants, the respective internal affairs departments also need to address these issues.

"If you entirely depend on the ACC, nothing will happen," he said. "[The security cell] should be investigating both the financial accountability and administrative accountability of the institution under their supervision."

Had the mechanism the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) mentioned worked, perhaps we would have come to know about other cases of government officials, before their tenures ended.

Anti-corruption campaigners in Bangladesh have long said that these incidents circulating in the media are only the tip of the iceberg.

"The cases now being revealed, discussed, and circulating in the name of investigations are not isolated incidents," Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of TIB, told TBS. "They illustrate the misuse of power, and the institutionalisation and normalisation of pervasive corruption.

"There is no room to believe that corruption is limited to these sectors alone. Sometimes," he added.

Corruption is also not a monopoly of government officials. Many of these now exposed officials had strong connections to politicians.

"From the private sector to politics, corruption is pervasive. The recent murder of an MP abroad was centred around corruption, misuse of power, money laundering, and gold smuggling. The NBR officials who amassed hundreds of crores in illegal wealth through corruption had the private sector businesses as their main clients. They helped them evade taxes. Those who evaded taxes caused even greater harm to the nation," Iftekharuzzaman further said.

We recently interviewed a former chairman of the NBR, who shared on condition of anonymity that his former office is an abode of corrupt officials, where honest officials cannot survive if they refuse to partake in corruption.

Asked about the scale of corruption at NBR, he replied, "Extremely high. Suppose 5% of employees are good, but they cannot survive there. Their posting won't last long."

But the former NBR chairman also added, "Everyone is not like Motiur. He went beyond his conduct rules. He took bribes like other commissioners in the office, a pattern that exists. But he used his position to launch a company in the capital market, which is beyond his conduct rules," said the former head of the NBR.

When asked why the internal enquiry department does not work at the NBR, the former head explained that since the system forces all to participate in corruption, no internal report would find anyone guilty.

What if an official refuses to partake in corruption? "He won't survive. In worst cases, the others will trap him and he may end up in trouble."

TIB's Iftekharuzzaman, said that there are declarations against corruption from the highest authorities in the government. "But the same parliament that speaks against corruption has created opportunities to legalise black money discriminatorily. This encourages dishonest means of earning money, as black money can be whitened with only a 15% tax," he said.

"So, what is the explanation for this double standard? It means our commitment and pledges against corruption are just empty words… We are creating room for more corruption, and creating more opportunities for the people in positions of power," he added.

Ghulam Rahman is a former civil servant and former chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission. Three months after taking the ACC office, he famously termed the ACC a "paper tiger".

"If we could identify a couple of hundred corrupt officials each year, convict them quickly, and punish them, it would set an example. If the judicial process, from investigation to the Supreme Court, could be completed within two years after exposing their corruption, people would fear engaging in corruption," he said.

"But the investigation and judicial processes take years to resolve a case. Sometimes cases are not solved in 15 to 20 years. These long trial durations are a reason why no one learns a lesson from them."

"Instead, everyone thinks they will get away with it. They believe that if they commit Tk100 crore worth of corruption and spend some Tk10 crore to fight legal complications, they will get away with it. Nothing will happen in their lifetime. In the long run, we all die. This is one of the main reasons why corruption is soaring," the former ACC chairman said.