Rashid Mohammed Al-Fouzan Al-Riyadh There are many bodies monitoring corruption including the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha), the General Auditing Bureau, the Control and Investigation Board, other government departments and the citizens themselves through the reports and information they convey to Nazaha. There are many faces of corruption; administrative corruption, power misuse, nepotism, embezzlement, delay in the execution of government projects and many other forms. We see corruption very clearly with our own eyes in the incomplete construction of schools, hospitals, roads, bridges and tunnels. There is a lot of the unseen corruption going on in ministries, government departments and many other organizations. What exactly happens after the corruption has been reported, monitored and investigated? Have any of those implicated been sent to court? What was the court's decision, if any? Were the accused convicted or acquitted? Nazaha should be transparent and tell us about the cases of corruption it has uncovered and the punishments against those implicated so that we do not lose confidence in it. We want to know what Nazaha is doing and what has it accomplished so far. The just-concluded Riyadh Economic Forum (REF) raised a simple question: is corruption increasing or decreasing after the creation of Nazaha? We want to know the exact situation so that we can make efforts to reduce corruption. We know very well that corruption cannot be completely annihilated and will always remain to be there, as there is no ideal country or society. All that we aspire for is to see corruption at a minimal level. In fact this is the objective of Nazaha itself. Nazaha should convince the people that it goes all the way in its fight against corruption and not be content only with a monitoring role. The discovery of a disease is not the end of the road, as it will still need diagnosis, medical checks and treatment either by surgery or medicines. Nazaha should, therefore, monitor, investigate and try the people accused of corruption until they are convicted or acquitted. We all want to see corruption receding in our country not by idle press statements or on TV talk shows but on the ground. The REF said after the establishment of Nazaha corruption should not increase if it did not decrease.
