Skip to main content

Full of corruption scams

The Himalayan Times
4 August 2023

Full of corruption scams

Corruption has become n a chronic in the country. One of the major factors for the country remaining undeveloped despite having abundant natural resources plus foreign aid and grants flowing in, is rampant corruption at all the levels of federal structure. As long as, there is corruption, the country cannot make acceptable progress. In recent months, a high-profile corruption case, the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal, rocked the nation, involving high-ranking politicians, former ministers, senior bureaucrats and a bunch of intermediaries. A few days ago, officials of The Department of Revenue Investigation confiscated 100 kilos of gold outside the Tribhuvan International Airport. This is the largest haul of gold in the country’s history.

Some of the big corruption cases which socked and defamed the nation are the Sudan Peace Mission Corruption Scandal, OMNI Scandal, Security Printing Press scandal, the wide-body scandal, COVID Vaccine scandal, the Lalita Niwas Land Grab scandal, the 10 billion TSC scandal, Dhamija and Lauda scandals, among others. The involvement of high-profile politicians and bureaucrats shows a well-established corruption network operating in the country, where influential people seem to abuse their authorities for personal gains. Corruption erodes social norms and values affecting justice, equality, accountability, transparency and good governance. Most of the suspected high-profile political leaders involved in these big corruption scandals were not even tried because of their political influence and protection.

Transparency International published the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)-2022 on January which showed Nepal ranking at 110th out of 180 positions with 34 points. The CPI is a measurement of corruption and calibrated from zero to 100, with 100 being a clean country and with zero being the most corrupt nation. Considering the level of frustration and fury of the people out in the streets and in the social media, the 10-party coalition government does not seem to have options other than support and instruct the investigating authorities to swiftly act on these corruption cases and punish all the culprits including their own political leaders. If it will fail to act timely, chances of people’s level of frustration might get exploded causing serious social and political disturbances.

Rai Biren Bangdel
Maharajgunj
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Political surprises of Balen led government

Prime Minister Balen Shah’s government has broken from decades of entrenched patronage politics  in its 100 days as called " honeymoon period ". Marked by rapid shifts, sweeping administrative overhauls, and bold foreign policy maneuvers, his tenure has generated several defining political surprises. Sweeping Governance & Administration Overhauls: A New Cabinet Standard : His government bypassed traditional veteran politicians, forming a 15-member cabinet that made national headlines for exclusively consisting of highly educated professionals. Dismantling Party Unions: In his first cabinet meeting, he shocked the civil service by pushing to abolish party-affiliated trade unions and aggressively streamlining federal ministries from 25 down to 17. The " 100-Point Agenda " : His governemnt immediately published a strict, delivery-focused 100-point reform agenda with measurable deadlines, aiming to completely digitize office management and track adminis...
Post a Comment
Read more

A rare episode in the political history

Sudan Gurung , who is a Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker, had earlier resigned from the position of Home Minister saying that he was stepping aside to ensure an impartial investigation and avoid any conflict of interest, has been reinstated on Tuesday, 9thJune 2026, after an official investigation into his finances found no wrongdoing, paving the way for his return to the office. A government-appointed investigation committee led by former High Court Judge Achyut Prasad Bhattarai submitted a 45-page report to Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah at Singha Durbar on Friday, 5th June 2026 clearing him of corruption allegations and opening the door for his possible return to the post. Independent lawmaker Mahabir Pun, who was also the minister in the interim government of Sushila Karki , has also been appointed as the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation along with Gurung. His appointment has created a rare episode in Nepal's political history. None of the in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Strong government weak opposition

In the general elections held on March 5, 2026 the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won overwhelmingly 182 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives (HOR). Accordingly, a new majority government was formed under the leadership of RSP senior leader Balendra (Balen) Shah , without the support of any political party.    The RSP enjoys a comfortable majority government, whereas the oppositions are in weak positions in the national political history. The Nepali Congress (NC) has been reduced to a mere 38 seats. The CPN-UML holds 25, the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) 17, the Shram Sanskriti Party (SSP) 7, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) just 5. No other party managed to get even 10 percent of the total seats other than the NC. When the opposition is significantly weaker than a strong ruling party, the foundational checks and balances of a democratic system might be significantly weakened or break down. This has raised a fundamental question for the democratic republic ...
Post a Comment
Read more