Abstract
Corruption exists in all societies in varying forms and degrees. Since its inception, Pakistan has been struggling to contain corruption, initially in public sector, and subsequently in private sector. Apart from instituting oversight and regulatory mechanism in form of parliamentary Public Accounts Committees, Auditor General and Ombudsman offices, regulatory bodies and departmental mechanisms, the main focus of Pakistan’s efforts has been the enactment of anti-corruption laws and their enforcement through Anti-Corruption Investigation Agencies (ACIAs) i.e. National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and Provincial Anti-Corruption Establishments (ACEs). This paper evaluates policy context, performance and effectiveness of ACIAs in curtailing corruption in Pakistan. It examines the legal, institutional and procedural framework of ACIAs. It undertakes a comparative analysis of their organizational structures, jurisdictional mandates, operational autonomy, procedural efficacy, resource adequacy and performance to identify factors impacting their performance, especially that of NAB which recovered Rs. 466 billion during 2000-2019 including Rs. 142 billion in 2019. The compelling evidence that emerges, with the cumulative recovery by ACIAs peaking in 2019, is that the political will along with enabling legal framework, resource adequacy and institutional capacity are critical factors in determining efficacy of an ACIA. The paper concludes that only a national resolve coupled with the will of the government to uproot corruption can achieve desired outcomes.
Keyword(s)
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