Investigating, prosecuting are only reactive aspects of combating corruption: FICAC
The Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) has seen that fighting corruption this year has been severely politicised.
FICAC Commissioner, Rashmi Aslam, said they were aware of the political propaganda to “phase out” or dismantle the commission.
He was addressing stakeholders who were part of the International AntiCorruption Day celebration at the Holiday Inn Suva on Friday
“The need and existence of FICAC have been the subject matter of political debates time and again,” he said.
“The reasons given for this purported policy is that the Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) can do the same work that FICAC undertakes. “This is with the specific intention to instil within the public minds that FICAC’s work is merely a duplication of the work undertaken by other law enforcement agencies.”
Mr Aslam said such propaganda was a delusional fallacy.
“On behalf of the commission and its officers, it is my statutory duty to debunk this fallacy.”
He said those who breed this propaganda demonstrated their ignorance and the shallowest understanding of the complexity of combating corruption.
“Combating corruption is not only about investigating and prosecution. Corruption does not stop by investigating and prosecuting alone.
“Investigation or prosecution is only the reactive aspect of combating corruption and that alone does not work,” he said. “When an organisation is infested with systemic corruption, finding solutions to clean up such systemic corruption can be very challenging and at that stage, it requires robust and sophisticated solutions.
“Undertaking such a complex methodology undoubtedly requires specialised knowledge and skills.”