Iftekharuzzaman

The recommendations of the Anti-Corruption Reform Commission must be implemented with a specific focus on the ACC’s true independence and accountability.

Dirty money is conveniently welcomed in host economies, becoming clean until proven otherwise.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), speaks with Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star.

Whether the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime will eventually lead to a sufficiently robust democratic transition remains to be seen.

The Appellate Division verdict of July 21 has opened the scope for resolution of the main issue around the demands coming from the quota reform movement.

Collusive abuse of power is a major reason why perpetrators of high-level corruption can get away scot-free in Bangladesh.

Corruption is a global menace that no country has succeeded in bringing down to zero level. 

If Bangladesh is to succeed in corruption control, impunity must be challenged, and the powerful in particular must be brought to justice.

Governments that score low in corruption indexes are more prone to use force and violence to control and suppress dissensions and protests.

Has the EC played its due role? Or have its actions—or rather inactions—contributed to the current political crisis?

Why has no investigation taken place to explore on which grounds and for whose benefit the lion’s share of the climate fund was deposited in the Farmers Bank?

This is not the first time that the ACC’s authority in the key areas of its mandate have been tactfully curtailed.

Positions of power acquired through various means have long been allowed to be treated as a licence for self-enrichment through various illicit means.

The key to the ACC’s effectiveness in delivering its mandate is independence, especially when setting the example that, in handling allegations of corruption, it is guided by equality before law, and not by the status or identity of the individual depending on their political, governmental, or other connections.

CPI 2022 shows how corruption, conflict and insecurity are interrelated and feed each other.

The recent decision to empower the secretary does not bode well for the Anti-Corruption Commission

The ACC has delegated the power to its secretaries to decide on the transfer and promotion of its deputy directors and assistant directors.

High-level pledges against corruption continued to be reiterated in 2022, as in the past several years.

As a result of the game of secrecy of the real beneficiaries, those involved in banking sector corruption and money laundering have hardly been brought to justice.

The cost of grand corruption in Bangladesh is only continuing to go up.