Bahrain officials praise audit of government agencies

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Bahrain officials praise audit of government agencies

2011-01-20 By Aziz Ali in Manama

The 2009 National Audit Court Annual Report was presented to Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in late December. [Stephanie McGehee /Reuters]

Bahrain officials and analysts praised a recently published audit of government agencies, saying the report enhances transparency and supports the fight against corruption.

The 670-page report, presented to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in late December 2010, identified violations by ministries, governmental agencies, and companies owned by the Bahraini government.

One of the most serious violations on record was committed by the Radio and Television Corporation. The corporation hired non-Bahrainis for newly created positions and signed them to private contracts for extended terms at salaries ranging between 5,500 Bahraini dinars ($14,500) to 9,000 dinars ($24,000) without co-ordinating with the Bureau of Civil Service.

In addition to this violation, 17 government ministries or agencies out of a total of 53 committed violations, an increase from 12 in 2008.

Hassan Al-Jalahma, chairman of the National Audit Court, said the court monitored the governmental agencies and ministries in accordance with Bahrain law and the international auditing standards issued by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. He said the report "includes the observations and the recommendations related to financial and administrative violations that appear through its monitoring activities."

Akbar Jaajafari, an economics expert, expressed "astonishment at the number of violations committed by ministries and government agencies in 2009" and demanded "all the officials who are involved in the violations be held accountable. The spirit of patriotic responsibility must be instilled in the minds of decision makers in those government agencies".

He said an extreme waste of funds calls for "severe punishments for those who committed violations without any exception".

Jaafari said the report revealed a high level of waste in overall government spending in all ministries. He pointed out that the government can provide all the needs of the Kingdom at less than 40% of the allocated budget.

Hassan Bukhammas, a businessman and former member of the parliament, praised the report of the Audit Court as it "reflects a high level of professionalism in monitoring public funds and complete transparency in recording violations, both of which enhance government efforts to put the general budget on track in accordance with the plans."

Bukhammas expects various political parties and parliamentary blocs in the House of Representatives to discuss the cases mentioned in the report openly.

He called on political organisations and civil societies to conduct this discussion in a civil dialogue and for the executive and legislative bodies to cooperate. The report by a governmental agency that reports directly to the king confirms that the executive branch is leading the effort to correct violations made by all state corporations.

He also called on parliamentary blocs to take an interest in citizen concerns while performing their role as monitors of government spending.

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نجيب علي

2011-2-10

The controlling authorities in Bahrain play a big role in investigating the acts of administrative corruption. Many forms of corruption have spread and became rampant in all the ministries and provincial councils, as well as government departments everywhere in Bahrain. The country is a home of the worst forms of corruption. Fear God the Almighty and stop creating havoc on earth, as God the Exalted says: Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by reason of what the hands of the people have earned, so He may let them taste part of the consequence of what they have done, so that perhaps they will return to righteousness. The administrative control authorities in Bahrain have fought corruption, and they have taken useful and necessary measures to achieve this important objective. There is a need to fight the administrative corruption through a popular movement, or through the awareness-raising campaigns that fight against corruption, depending on the control authorities that advocate this important case. As for the role of the people, they realize that the human soul leans toward corruption. If the people had moved, the strength of the administrative and control authorities would have increased. The corrupt people must know that no matter what they have done, God is forgiving and merciful. The governments must pay attention to this dangerous and important work, because it leads to the loss of entire countries, because the issues of corruption are not easy and we cannot accept them.
فارس محمد

2011-2-10

Administrative corruption in Bahrain is rampant, and this leads to the deterioration of economic and cultural conditions, in addition to all the other aspects of corruption, because corruption calls for the lack of a conscience. The State of Bahrain has succeeded in reducing the large number of administrative corruption cases with the assistance of the control and administrative authorities, which have developed good plans to control the country correctly and properly. The successes of the control agencies were expected, because Bahrain would collapse if it did not take the necessary measures that achieve the interests of the people and the government. We ask God to guide and support these authorities and make their good work beneficial to the other countries that suffer from the administrative corruption that destroys the administration of the country.
وسام قادر

2011-2-3

I want to thank the supervision committees for working hard in Bahrain to combat administrative corruption, which is spreading through all areas of life and in the government. In fact, they contribute to reducing administrative corruption throughout the country. Thus, we will be able to build a solid national economy, provide equal opportunities for everyone, and reflect a good image of the country, without corruption. The credit here really goes to the supervision committee and the administration.
شعيب عبدالله

2011-2-3

Which decrease in administrative corruption are we talking about? It is widespread and getting worse and worse. Yet, it is natural that government officials or a corruption supervision committee declares through the media that corruption is declining, that the situation is improving, and that they are responsible for this decrease in corruption. However, in reality, whoever experiences the situation will notice that corruption is not only still present in Bahrain, but that it is also increasing. As a matter of fact, we desperately need a true supervision committee that is not involved in corruption cases. We also need to guide and teach Bahrainis and employees, in order to eradicate this bad phenomenon, which has already begun to harm the country.
عماد سالم

2011-2-3

Corruption in Bahrain had been really increasing. Nowadays, however, thanks to God and thanks to the firm administrative supervision committee, which is present now and monitoring everybody, and reviewing all the complaints submitted, administrative corruption has been eradicated in many governmental departments and other places. Thus, this has contributed to reducing this phenomenon. We hope that the administrative supervision committee succeeds in eradicating corruption in the country.
عبد السميع الرهواني

2011-1-21

Peace be upon you…. Dear brothers, we do not care about the government reports, because we know that administrative corruption is rampant in Bahrain. We have heard about the famous scandal of corruption and embezzlement that happened in the Housing Bank at the hands of its director and some of his aides. The highest criminal court dismissed the case that was filed against the former director of the bank, against the background of accusations of embezzling more than 1.5 million dinars, and it based the dismissal on its lack of jurisdiction. Then it referred the case to the court of first instance to consider it! The court said that the employees are not public officials and they do not work for a public authority, and this means that the court of first instance shall consider the case. This means that the case became a misdemeanor rather than a crime. Hence, these courts issued commuted penalties that may not exceed three years in prison. This is perplexing, because this case involved manipulation, embezzlement, and misuse of public money, and this, to the best of my knowledge, violates all human and administrative regulations. That is because the bank has been transformed into a family institution that only benefits the embezzlers, who deprived thousands of Bahrainis of enjoying the services of this government institution. This led to longer lines of those who wait to get a foothold in this country, because of the corruption of the officials.
عبد الرحمن المجبور

2011-1-21

I wish to see a day when there is no administrative corruption in any Arab country, because corruption causes backwardness.