Iraq in Focus
Iraq Officials Begin New Year with Vow to Battle Corruption
(Dep. Prime Minister Salih hosts Baghdad conference)
By Armand Cucciniello
State Department Correspondent
January 6, 2008
Baghdad – Kicking off what Prime Minister Maliki has called “The Anti-corruption Year,” top Iraqi officials hosted a high-level discussion January 3 at the Al Rashid hotel, focusing on administrative and financial corruption within their government.
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, who chaired the conference, set the tone for the discussion declaring corruption was “one of the most important challenges . . . for our democratic future.”
Salih followed up with frank remarks on the impact of corruption on the Iraqi economy and reconstruction so necessary for economic and political stability. “We have to admit that we have a problem,” he said. “It is very dangerous, and it’s a challenge we have to face.”
The Deputy Prime Minister added that corruption was inherited from former dictator Saddam Hussein’s days in power and that it was now time for the Government to address the problem and become more transparent.
Conference participants included the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Ali Al-Allaq; the head of the Board of Supreme Audit Dr. Abdulbassit Turky; the Commissioner for Public Integrity, Mr. Musa Faraj, as well as several members of the Council of Representatives, Iraq’s unicameral parliament.
Delegates from supporting countries such as the United States, Italy, Japan, Australia, Germany, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the European Commission played an observing role, alongside representatives from agencies like U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
In 2007 USAID helped channel $2.3 billion in U.S. Government funds toward investment in public works projects in Iraq. Since 2003, the U.S. Government has devoted $32 billion to Iraqi reconstruction. For 2008 the Iraqi Government will spend $15 billion of its overall $48 billion budget on economic and infrastructure development.
During a recent roundtable with Western media in Baghdad, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said, “The Government of Iraq's recent Anti-Corruption efforts demonstrate “a seriousness of purpose, a determination to move forward.”
Deputy Prime Minister Salih drove home the point that corruption was “a very complex disease plaguing Iraqi society” that serves to erode economic gains. Noting a definite tie between corruption and terrorism, he added that 71 Government inspectors were assassinated, wounded, or kidnapped since 2003.
While he did not go into any detail as to how the government would tackle the menace, Salih acknowledged, “We have to have supervision on key areas within the government.”
The Iraqi official did say The Council of Ministry Affairs would be responsible for creating a committee to investigate corruption, and the committee will place its findings on a Government website by April 1.
A statement by Prime Minister Maliki, who was in London and unable to attend the conference, was presented by Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Mr. Ali Al-Allaq, who will head up the new Council for Anti Corruption.
Labeling 2008 as “the anti-corruption year” for Iraq, the Prime Minister called the forum “the starting point for challenging all corruption.”
Corruption is a “bad phenomenon we have inherited from the former regime,” he stated. “We need to remove this obstacle [standing in the way of] reconstruction.” More NGOs need to be involved in the process, the Prime Minister said, and the media needs to be encouraged to highlight it as well.
The Chairman of the Board of Supreme Audit, Mr. Abdulbassit Turky, echoed the Deputy Prime Minister’s remarks, also calling corruption a “disease” and “a phenomenon” which “we need to realize . . . is present in our society.” Turky spoke about how the board has developed a training process with the United Nations to address the reporting system, which will make reports available via the World Wide Web.
For his part, Public Integrity Commissioner Musa Faraj noted that 45% of Iraq’s oil fields are effected by corruption where “there is looting of oil in the pipeline.”
Faraj also said that contracts – a recurring topic during the forum – were not properly awarded and established procedures were not followed by the committee responsible for awarding contracts.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is partnering with Iraqis to increase the transparency of procurement and expenditure through an effort called The Local Governance Project. Its goal is to implement a project tracking and accounting system that will allow officials, auditors, and the public to see how funds are being used.
Begun in December, the program involves the training of technicians who will assist provincial treasurers in Basrah, Najaf, Maysan, and Baghdad to install the computerized tracking system. It will allow the Ministry of Finance to apportion funds on a need basis while tracking project progress.
At the same time training will also be provided to the Iraqi Commission for Public Integrity and the inspector general corps. The goal is to help 360 provincial procurement staff across 15 provinces attain proficiency in competitive contracting and 234 public officials and 180 civil society personnel attain proficiency in contract oversight.