Auditors given 'excellent impressions' about anti-corruption measures

KUWAIT: Commenting on the seven-rank jump Kuwait made in 2018 on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, where Kuwait ranked 78th out of 180 countries, 8th in the Arab world and 5th in the GCC, official spokesperson of the Public Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) Mohammed Buzubar stressed that the ranking was based on the latest reports and questionnaires from 2016 and 2017 about the reforms conducted by both the government and Nazaha through the project of the national strategy to enhance transparency and fighting corruption set in collaboration with UN organizations, the private sector and NGOs.

Buzubar added that the report was also based on the excellent periodic audit reports made by the State Audit Bureau, the remarkable work done by Kuwait Transparency Society, the consultations Nazaha held with Kuwaiti NGOs while preparing the national strategy, the constant improvements achieved by Kuwait on the e-government index and the progress made on the ease of doing business index, in addition to passing law number 13/2018 on preventing interest contradictions and receiving financial disclosures from 94 percent of public officials. "All these elements gave both local and foreign auditors excellent impressions about the government's serious anti-corruption measures," he underlined.

Further, Buzubar explained that the CPI measures the perception of corruption and its prevalence within a government from the point of view of private sector experts and executives. He added that reports are usually made based on data collected from a maximum of 13 and minimum of three sources of information and reports made by international specialized institutions. He also noted that annual indexes are usually based on information collected during the two previous years at least.

Moreover, Buzubar elaborated that indicators measured by the index include bribery, bureaucracy, the effectiveness of court orders passed against corrupt officials, protection of whistleblowers, law sufficiency and citizens' access to general information.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi