Kuwait government is keen to fight corruption: Nazaha
2 Customs officials under probe
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 11, (KUNA): The Kuwait AntiCorruption Authority (Nazaha) referred Tuesday two officials at Kuwait General Administration of Customs to the Public Prosecution on charges of corruption.
Dr Mohammad Bouzuber, Nazaha’s Assistant Secretary General for Investigations and official spokesman, told KUNA the suspects were allegedly involved in wasting state funds worth up to KD 41,352 ($135,000).
He affirmed that Nazaha would continue to gather evidences and witnesses’ account to add to the case against the suspects. Nazaha, an independent authority, was established according to Law 2/2016, in response to the requirements stipulated by the UN anti-corruption convention.
It advocates transparency and integrity in economic and administrative tasks for sake of securing rational management of states’ financial resources and assets.
Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) said Kuwait’s government is keen to fight corruption through the application of financial disclosure statement.
The Authority is exerting great efforts to overcome the difficulties in implementing the provisions of the national strategy on all state bodies, Head of the Authority Counsellor Abdulrahman Al-Namash told Al-Anbaa newspaper. He added this will make a positive contribution to Kuwait’s ranking in the Global Corruption Perceptions Index.
The strategy includes working controls and reference terms for state body, on which the Authority can detect the corrupt, he said.
Meanwhile, Al-Namash said Nazaha will organize the international conference to promote integrity and transparency next January next, in conjunction with the launch of the national strategy to fight corruption.
Nazaha in cooperation with competent authorities does a random examination of funds covered by the law, including ministers and deputies, he said, stressing that the Authority needs no permission to refer any corruption or suspicion of corruption to prosecution, where the body is independent practically and legally and Nazaha’s work ends with referral to the prosecution.
Kuwait’s Embassy in France said its nationals in the country are safe after angry anti-government protests witnessed their fourth week.
Earlier, French authorities said the nationwide protests resulted in 118 people injured, including 17 police officers. Some 1,350 arrests out of the 125,000 demonstrators who gathered across France, some of whom destroyed private property and set fire to cars.