Wiping out corruption once and for all

I have been working with private business firms for more than 48 years now, and often need to handle more than 24 government offices to keep our business functions running smoothly. However, corruption runs deep in these government offices, often demanding kickbacks without a moment’s hesitation. If we fail to appease them in time, they can penalize us to the point where it can jeopardize the entire business.
Forms of corruption vary, but most often include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, and embezzlement, and the practice may facilitate criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and even human trafficking at its most extreme.
On the other hand, political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. An illegal act by an office-holder constitutes political corruption only if the act is directly related to their official duties and is done under the collar of law or involves trading in influence.
Media outlets across the country have revealed so many instances of corruption before the January 2024 national elections, ranging from money-laundering to submission of wealth reports to the Election Commission by the participants of members of parliament. Unrestrained political corruption is known as a kleptocracy, which literally means rule by thieves.
The government has, on many instances, made a commitment to ending corruption. But such commitments cannot just be lip service -- people want to see that these commitments are reflected soon through the government actions.
In politics, corruption undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. Corruption in elections and in the legislature reduces accountability and distorts representation in policy-making; corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the inefficient provision of services. It violates a basic principle of running the state affairs.
Corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government, if procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. Corruption undermines the legitimacy of the government and democratic values such as trust and tolerance. Recent evidence suggests that variation in the levels of corruption amongst high-income democracies can vary significantly depending on the level of accountability of decision-makers. Evidence from fragile states also shows that corruption and bribery can adversely impact trust in institutions.
The scale of humanitarian aid to the poor and unstable regions of the world grows, but it is highly vulnerable to corruption, with food aid, construction and other highly valued assistance as the most at-risk. Food aid can be directly and physically diverted from its intended destination, or indirectly through the manipulation of assessments, targeting, registration and distributions to favour certain groups or individuals.
At the basic level, it is greed which begets corruption.
Education forms the basis and the fabric in which a society is transformed and different facets of well-being are shaped. Academic promotions in the higher educational institutions have been disabled by unlimited corruption. Presently, promotion is based on personal connections rather than professional achievements. This has led to dramatic increase in the number of professors and exhibits their rapid status loss.
Corruption in our higher education has been prevalent for a long time, but nothing is ever done to stem its tides. Increased corruption in higher education has led to growing concerns among students, educators, and other stakeholders.
Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It needs to be eradicated. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective. A good start would be for the administration to send a strong message to all government offices to refrain from taking bribes and if anybody is found to be engaging in any forms of corruption, he or she should be punished accordingly.
Anwar A Khan is a freedom fighter who writes on politics and international issues.