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INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY
Under AL, ACC became a political weapon
DIPAN NANDY and MOHAMMAD JAMIL KHAN
Established to combat corruption, the Anti-Corruption Commission has gone on to become a tool for the Awami League government to suppress opposition to the ruling party.
Over the past decade or so, the commission has primarily targeted individuals opposing the incumbent government while investigations into ruling party members’ corruption rarely progressed despite credible allegations.
“ACC has remained embarrassingly ineffective over the years,” Iftekharuzzaman, chief of the ACC Reform Commission, told The Daily Star.
The top appointments were based on partisan political basis and the next level of ACC leadership of director generals and secretaries have been under the exclusive control of bureaucracy.
As a result, the commission has remained hostage to partisan political and bureaucratic influence, which made it dysfunctional, according to Iftekharuzzaman.
“The ACC is as good as the government is. Everyone thinks that the ACC runs on the whims and fancies of the government -- it’s not too much of a lie,” said Moydul Islam, who served as the ACC’s director general from 2015 to 2019.
Meanwhile, the ACC has become virtually ineffective now after the resignation of the commission led by Moinuddin Abdullah on October 29. The commission cannot decide on any new inquiries, investigations or cases.
Amid the situation, the ACC is set to observe the International Anti-Corruption Day today with the theme “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity”.
The commission has the independence to address minor corruption but lacks the authority to tackle major scandals involving vast sums of money, several ACC directors told The Daily Star on the condition of anonymity.
Occasionally, investigations into high-profile individuals close to the government are initiated under pressure. Rarely are they completed, they said.
After the interim government assumed power on August 8, the ACC decided to investigate about 150 AL leaders.
The list includes notable names such as former lawmaker and AL joint secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, former lawmaker Pankaj Nath, Nurunnabi Chowdhury, Abdus Sobhan Golap and former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
The ACC filed a case against former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and his family for amassing illegal wealth.
But there are hardly any instances of taking action against such people in the last 15 years.
Some investigations only began following court directives, not from ACC’s initiative.
For example, in 2022, a complaint against former Gazipur mayor Jahangir Alam over fund embezzlement from development projects gained traction only after a court writ was filed.
The same happened in the case of Abdus Sobhan On
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