In 1996 the international anti-corruption NGO Transparency International (TI) rated Pakistan as the second most corrupt country out of the 54 they had surveyed. The joke making the rounds in Pakistan at the time was that Pakistan was actually in first place but the government had bribed TI to put Nigeria ahead of Pakistan!
The culture of corruption was promoted in the colonial system of administration by the award of lands, titles and jobs to a specific group supporting colonial objectives as part of political bribery. settlement of refugee claims.
Major issues which have been the main cause of corruption:
Public Utilities
The Tax Regime (Evasion/Leakage)
Public Sector Banking
Public Sector Expenditures
Underground Economy
Main Causes of Anti-Corruption Failure:
Misuse of the Agencies by Successive Governments
Poor investigations and lack of professional expertise
Misuse of mandate by the Investigating Agencies
Lack of Fair and Just Accountability
Kinship based politics
Military interference (directly or indirectly)
The Incompatible Legal Judicial System
Appointment of Heads of Investigating Agencies on political grounds
In-adequacies & Institutional Weakness of the Anti-Corruption Agencies
Various acts/laws regarding anti-corruption have been passed since 1947. Moreover, for the prevention of corruption, departments like FIA, Ombudsman, NAB, Anti-Corruption have been established, but useless.
First Director General of NAB , was removed because he wanted to extend ‘accountability’ to senior military officers. The National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) gave Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari and a few other politicians and some 8,000 civil servants full immunity for all acts committed between 1986 and 1999. After assuming presidency, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, NAB could not pursue corrupt politicians but only go after relatively low-ranking bureaucrats. That’s why NAB became a toy in the hands of the establishment and the pro-establishment government to punish opposition.