ISLAMABAD – The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability,Shehzad Akbar, in response to The News story comprising his interviewtitled “Govt admits NAB officials face mindset problem” published onOctober 11, 2018, has sent following note:
“The headline ‘Govt admits NAB officials face mindset problem’ ismisleading and not representing what I have discussed. Gist of mydiscussion was that NAB does need infra structural and capacity buildingsupport, which the government is willing and keen to provide. The existingcapacity for investigations and prosecution need improvement, especiallywhen the previous governments on purpose weakened NAB by reducing theirbudget and financial support. This improvement is also required withexpanding work of NAB as so many new cases and investigations areunearthing involving billions of corruption and loss to exchequer.
To the specific question about NAB calling people for investigation andinquiry and making them sit for long hours in waiting, and if this issomething that requires amendment to existing laws; I responded by sayingthat this is an issue with persons/individuals or mindset of some and notthe organisation or issue with the law. I firmly believe that for realaccountability, laws need toempower investigating agencies with strongerpowers of calling for information, search and seizure as it exist in thecurrent laws. I also mentioned that for amendment or improvement on NABlaws, the Cabinet has already formed a committee under the chairmanship oflaw minister and NAB is part of this committee, wherein NAB has also beenasked for recommendations, and it is a consultative process.
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I would also like to add that since the appointment of new NAB Chairman,Justice (R) Javed Iqbal, a clear change can be seen in NAB and its workingfrom its previous leadership performance which was reprimanded by theSupreme Court of Pakistan in Panama case. And for this reason, newgovernment is supportive of NAB and working on providing NAB with requiredinfra-structure and financial assistance.” – APP