The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is a high level constitutional body for corruption control whose prime responsibility is to investigate, prosecute and bring actions against officials accused of misuse of authority or involvement in corruption. It will initiate investigations against all public officials if the complaint is made in writing or in the media or through any source related to allegations of abuse of power. Nepal continues to slide down in the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). It ranked Nepal 110th globally with only 34 out of 100 marks in 2022. This indicates that the country has failed to make any headway when it comes to reducing the level of corruption, making it one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
In view of growing irregularities in the country, time has come for the major political parties and their respective governments to be sincere in strengthening the CIAA to tackle them in a more effective manner rather than making it simply a showcase by appointing their favourable officials. Despite Nepal’s 2015 constitution envisioning a clean, efficient, fair, transparent, and corruption-free public administration, poverty and social injustice and inequality in the country continue to rise due to rampant corruption in public, private, community-owned, and even non-governmental sectors. The existing anti-graft bodies, including the CIAA have miserably failed to bring groups and individuals involved in large volume of corruptions into its nets and lawfully punish them.
The growing level of corruption has significantly eroded public trust in the government as it has affected all aspects of life, from basic public services such as health and education to large-scale infrastructure projects and even the country’s judicial system. Under the existing CIAA’s authority, private banks and institutions are not under its ambit. The recent two bills, proposing to bring private institutions under the scope of the anti-corruption body, which were originated in the NA, will now move forward to the House of Representatives for its extensive deliberation “Should CIAA jurisdiction include private sector?” (THT, April 12, Page 1). It remains to be seen whether these two bills will really empower CIAA and make it more effective in discharging its duties as envisaged by the people.
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