Dr. Khalid Al-Seghayer I CHOSE this title hoping that the remarkable headway made by the anti-graft campaign, which was recently launched in Saudi Arabia, would result in successful combating of corruption. The establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) by a Royal Decree issued in March 2011 in the aftermath of the government's approval of a national strategy to combat corruption in 2007 is regarded as the first step toward achieving the ultimate goal of ending corrupt practices in Saudi Arabia. The commission's regulatory mission covers three main areas: Upholding integrity, promoting transparency, and fighting against financial and administrative corruption that hampers state development projects from taking off. To ensure the success of its efforts, the commission is granted specific investigative powers with regard to public works or public contracts as well as the authority to obtain the funds or proceeds of crimes of corruption. The move to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) was welcomed by Transparency International, which considers it a necessary step and a positive trend toward greater transparency and accountability in the Kingdom. Saudi citizens, first and foremost, applauded enthusiastically the initiative to combat financial and administrative fraud, widespread mismanagement, and other malpractices in the government. The perceived level of corruption throughout the country increased over the past decade, and as such holds back Saudi Arabia's development. For example, Saudi Arabia's property rights score is now lower than the world average. Saudi corruption index was 2 points in 1997, reached 4.5 in 2003, and decreased in 2006 to 3.3 points, placing the Kingdom at the 50th rank in corruption on the global level. Recently, Transparency International in its annual corruption perceptions index for 2010 gave Saudi Arabia a score of 4.7 (on a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is “highly corrupt” and 10 is “highly clean”) and Saudi Arabia was given a 66th place in 2012 (out of 176 countries), scoring 44 out 100. It was estimated that more than 3,000 national projects are suffering from mismanagement, which leads to a direct result of a systematic failure to apply Saudi anti-corruption laws. Along the same line, economic experts predict a rise in the per capita income in Saudi Arabia from SR78,750 ($20,000) to SR315,000 ($83,000), if the concerned entities succeed in putting an end to the financial and administrative corruption in the Kingdom. In addition, the results of a study indicated that the private sector spends $20 to $30 billion per year on bribes, and are involved in forging, bribes, swindling, counterfeit currency, manipulation and other offenses, and other corrupt practices. Furthermore, a recent newspaper report said Saudi courts have handled more than 1,800 forgeries, bribes, and other corruption cases in 2011 alone. According to the General Auditing Bureau, funds spent by Saudi Arabia on health, education, and municipalities surpass those spent by other industrial nations, but Saudi Arabia's sectors are far below the level in those nations. The performance of the government bodies is still below the required level, apparently due to the financial and administrative dishonesty that is commonly widespread in the public sector. Only a couple of decades ago, the word “corruption” was a taboo word and now corruption is publicly debated in Saudi Arabia as part of ongoing economic reforms and social openness. Hence, it is imperative for all involved parties, including citizens, residents, officials, media, and institutions, to work collectively to help combat this menace that continues to spread widely and may eventually lead to catastrophic consequences for the general public. Let's us hope that there will be no place for corruption on the soil of Saudi Arabia in the very near future. — The writer is a Saudi academic who can be reached at [email protected]
