ISLAMABAD - Chairman National Accountability Bureau Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal has said that the Bureau is the focal organisation of Pakistan under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) as Pakistan is signatory to this convention.
In a statement issued here yesterday, he said that Pakistan is the only country in the world to which China has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for eradication of corruption.
Pakistan and China are now jointly working for ensuring transparency in China Pakistan Economic Coordination (CPEC) projects. He said that the World Economic Forum Report, Transparency International, Pakistan, PILDAT and Mishal Pakistan have lauded the NAB efforts to make people aware about the ill effects of corruption for corruption free Pakistan.
According to a survey of Gillani and Gallop Pakistan, 59 people of Pakistan showed confidence in NAB.
Justice Javed said that NAB is the chairman of SAARC Anti-Corruption Forum. He said this was recognition of NAB’s excellent work as NAB is considered as a role model among SAARC countries.
He said that he had signed an MoU with the Higher Education Commission to educate students of universities/colleges about the ill effects of corruption at an early age as youth is the future of Pakistan. In this regard, character building societies (CBS) have been established in universities/colleges throughout the country, he added.
The Chairman NAB said that NAB’s faith is corruption-free Pakistan and has chalked out an anti-corruption strategy of Awareness, Prevention and Enforcement.
He said that NAB’s major focus is logical conclusion of mega corruption cases. Since NAB’s inception, one of the NAB’s major achievements has been the recovery of over Rs 466 billion.
He said that the overall complaints in 2019 were 53643 and processed 42760 whereas complaints in 2018 were 48591 and processed 41414.
He said, NAB during 2019, processed 1308 complaint verifications, 1686 inquiries and 609 investigations and recovered Rs 141.542 billion from corrupt elements in 2019.
He said that NAB has introduced a new concept of Combined Investigation Team (CIT) in order to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers, a system of CIT consisting of director, additional director, two investigation officers, senior legal consultant, forensic expert, financial expert, land revenue expert under the supervision of concerned DG, NAB.
He said that NAB has established its state-of-the-art Forensic Science Laboratory in NAB Rawalpindi. In 2019, 15747 questioned documents and 300 thumb impressions were analyzed in 50 cases and forensic analysis was carried out on 74 digital devices (laptops, mobile phones, hard disks etc).
The Chairman said that the NAB has always accorded high priority to training and capacity building of its investigation officers and prosecutors on regular basis on modern lines as training is a continuous process which is an effective tool for improvement and maintaining the quality of investigation officers and prosecutors.
He said that NAB recognizes the centrality of training as a tool of improvement and maintaining the quality of its manpower. The performance objectives of training programs will also be continuously evaluated so as to form a basis for subsequent review and improvements in future training needs.
He said that NAB is committed to eradicate corruption by utilising all its resources in all its forms and manifestations.
NAB focal organisatio