Achievements

Management Sector

Achievement of “Ran Vana for Publicizing Information – 2016”

The Information Commissioner’s Office has, in order to produce motivation, decided to award the “Ran Vana for Publicizing Information” to the best State Institute to take initiative and publicize information under section 37 of the Right to Information Act (Act No: 1/2014). The Anti-Corruption commission won the “Ran Vana for publicizing information” award for the year 2016.

Achievement of 1st place for the website to best publicize information

The Information Commissioner’s Office has decided to award the State Institute to best publicize information on their respective websites. The Anti-Corruption Commission’s website was scored at 85% points and awarded no.1 website to publicize information in the year of 2016.

Establishment of a human resource management system

Recording employee information and attendance through installation of a human resource management system and bringing the IT infrastructure to the standard required by the government to strengthen network security and backup solutions.

Establishment of Southern Regional Office

A Southern regional office was established on 1st December 2015 to investigate claims of corruption against government offices in Ga, G.dh, Gn, and Addu City. The office was inaugurated by Minister of Finance Mr Abdullah Jihad.

Establishment of a training policy for ACC staffs

This policy details the procedure for choosing staffs to be sent abroad for long-term training programs by the commission, short refresher programs designed to improve employee skills and paid scholarships by the commission and giving non-paid leave. All training programs conducted by the commission are carried out as per the training requirements passed by the government.

Establishment of a performance appraisal system

Performance appraisal of ACC employees was established on July 2010. The purpose of the appraisal system is to ensure employees carry out their responsibilities and maintain work-place discipline. Performance appraisal is also used to identify staffs who require disciplinary action and is also used in giving promotions and scholarships.

Establishment of the procedure for record checking

This details the procedure for deciding whether an individual is on record with ACC or not when a request is made with the commission.

Establishment of a mail management system

A mail management system has been established to ensure efficient work. The system has reduced the amount of papers used by employees.

Establishment of a case management system

Establishment of a case management system has allowed the commission to store cases securely. The system allows storage of photos, videos and audio and shows necessary information such as case no., date of complaint, summary of the complaint, case progress and how the case was concluded.

Formulating a media policy

ACC media policy details the information used by ACC in investigations, how the information is treated and how the information is disseminated.

Digitalizing member’s meetings

Commission member’s meeting have been digitalized since 2013. This has eliminated expenditure on paper and improved the speed of work.

Strengthening inter-institute bonds:

The Anti-Corruption Commission has signed MoUs with the following institutions in order to achieve a stronger workforce and establish better cooperation.

  • Auditor General’s Office
  • Maldives Police Services
  • Maldives Inland Revenue Authority
  • Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (ALAC) – Transparency Maldives
  • Department of National Registration
  • Ministry of Economic Development
  • Transparency Maldives
  • Academy of Dhivehi Language
  • Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission
  • Public Service Media
  • VTV
  • DhiTV
  • SunTv
  • Channel 13
  • Ice TV
  • Sangu TV
  • Club Maldives
  • Information Commissioner’s Office
  • Maldives National Defence Force
  • Maldives Hajj Corporation Limited
  • Maldives National University
  • Prosecutor General’s Office
  • Maldives Finance Leasing Company
  • State Electric Company Limited
  • Radio Atoll
  • Islamic University of Maldives
  • Fenaka Corporation Limited

Education and Awareness

Signing of National Integrity Pledge

More than 10,000 people signing the National Integrity Pledge within a year has been one the accomplishments. The pledge was introduced to promote integrity and to encourage people to work with integrity. The purpose of this Pledge is to encourage Public Office bearers to execute faithfulness and utmost integrity in their actions and to increase awareness regarding corruption among the public. The pledge also reaffirms their commitment to work with integrity.

“Bithufangi” radio program (Radio series 1)

“Bithufangi” radio series was introduced during 2011 to improve anti-corruption awareness and inform the public about the dangers of corruption and to promote integrity in the society. The series consisted of 13 episodes each centered around a different topic and was broadcasted by Dhivehi Raajjeyge Adu. The content for the program was developed by the education and research unit of ACC while technical help was provided by Dhivehi Raajjeyge Adu.

“Bithufangi” TV series

A 13-episode TV series named “Bithufangi” was produced by the commission in association with Vmedia to promote anti-corruption awareness. The series contained drama clips, interviews by experts and reports related to corruption. Technical work for the series was done by Vmedia. Broadcasting of the series continued into 2012.

Conducting Training of Trainers

Training of Trainers workshops were held in 2014 and 2016 to broaden the training capacity of ACC. Interested candidates were trained as Trainers and utilized in the trainings conducted in islands. This helped ACC to conduct outreach programs successfully in atolls.

“Bithufangi” radio program (Radio series 2)

The second edition of “Bithufangi” radio series was broadcasted in 2014. The series centered around the theme “Dangers of corruption” and showcased 13 individual areas affected by corruption. The series included a Q&A segment for listeners and was broadcasted on Dhivehi Raajjeyge Adu. Development of concept for the show, preparation of reports and presentation was carried out by ACC employees.

National Integrity Award

National Integrity Award was introduced in 2015 to recognize organizations and individuals that work to prevent and prohibit corruption, encourage promotion of integrity and monitor corrupt practices. The award is comprised of four different categories; Individuals, State institutions, Businesses and Non-Governmental Organizations. The inaugural awards presented in 2015 were awarded to Auditor general’s office (State institution) and Transparency Maldives (NGO).

“Bithufangi” TV series 2

The 13-episode TV series was created by Eternal pictures with the aim of increasing anti-corruption awareness and education people about the dangers of corruption. The series fictionalized real cases of corruption and provided informative messages to the society.

World Anti-corruption day

ACC has been celebrating world anti-corruption day (9th December) since 2011. Debate tournaments, religious lectures, public forums, quiz tournaments, video and photo contests have been held to celebrate the day.

National anti-corruption day

ACC has been celebrating the national anti-corruption day (21st April) since 2015. The purpose of celebrating such a day is to create awareness about corruption, promote a culture of fighting against corruption and to encourage integrity. AC day 2015 activities were held in H.dh Kulhudhuffushi and 2016 activities were held in Gn. Fuvahmulah.

Legal Sector

Introduction of a new General Regulation

General Regulation of Anti-Corruption Commission (Regulation Number:2017/R-40) has been amended and published in Government gazette on 18th April 2017, and started implementing the same day.

Amended regulation consist of total 05 chapters, and set out procedures and rules for filing an incident, appointing of lawyers and summoning suspects. This regulation provides procedures on requesting for information related to a cases under investigation stage and requesting for personal records and information.

New regulation is drafted based on the Law number 12/2016 (Criminal Procedure Code), procedures to follow during investigation is stated in new regulation according to Criminal Procedure Code.

Drafting of Investigation Manual of Anti-Corruption Commission

Drafting of Investigation Manual was one of the milestone which accomplished in the commission history. Purpose of manual is conducting investigation impartially and equally for all the parties involved in the cases. Before this manual came into effect there was no such written guidelines or procedures to follow by investigator while investigating cases.

This work is also included in commissions strategic action plan as an important activity. The drafting of an Investigation Manual officially commenced in the year 2015. With the finalization of all the chapters, manual officially came to effect on 03rd October 2016.

Amendments to Anti-Corruption Commission Act

Due to the changes brought to the legislative process due to the passage of Penal Code (9/2014) and experiences gained by the work carried out by the commission so far, amendments which the commission sees as necessary to further enhance the work carried out by ACC has been passed on to the Attorney General’s Office. ACC has the aim of passing the amendments during the current year. This is also a component of the strategic action plan.

Prevention and Research

The following are some leading milestone achievements in relation to the Prevention and Research functions of the Commission.

National Anti-Corruption Conference

The ACC organized and executed a National Anti-Corruption Conference in 2017. It was a historical and landmark event, as it was the very first time the Maldives has witnessed such a gathering by law enforcement bodies to enlighten on the importance of anti-corruption in the Maldivian society.

The aim of the National Anti-Corruption Conference was to facilitate a platform for discussions on existing challenges and find solutions for rapid conclusion of corruption related issues between law enforcement institutions and fostering a culture of integrity to fight against corruption with stakeholder participation and engagement through research. This National Anti-Corruption Conference was held on 10-11 May 2017 at the Conference Hall of the Islamic University of Maldives and was a joint project initiated by ACC and IUM.

At the conference a total of eleven papers were presented by ten institutions together with ACC. These include:

#
Institution
Title of the Research Paper
1. Anti-Corruption Commission a. The situation analysis of corruption in the Maldives, National Integrity Plan and corruption prevention activitiesb. Challenges and counter measures in investigation of large-scale corruption cases
2. Attorney General’s Office Challenges and counter measures for damages incurred by State on asset recovery in corruption cases
3. Prosecutor General’s Office Challenges and counter measures in prosecution and conviction of corruption cases
4. Auditor General’s Office Causes of corruption and counter measures identified in the audits of public institutions and companies
5. Maldives Police Service Challenges and counter measures in investigation of fraud and embezzlement cases
6. Islamic University of the Maldives Challenges and counter measures involved in the importance of upholding integrity in implementation of Criminal Justice System
7. Maldives Monetary Authority Challenges and counter measures in prevention of money laundering
8. Information Commissioner’s Office Challenges and counter measures in the importance of information disclosure in corruption prevention
9. Civils Service Commission Challenges and counter measures to foster integrity in the Civil Service
10. FENAKA Corporation Re-strategizing FENAKA Corporation’s corporate governance system to prevent corruption

The Conference was concluded with stakeholders’ deliberation on the official declaration whereby they agreed on recommendations at a consensus.

National Integrity Plan

Article (e) of chapter 21 of the Prevention and prohibition of corruption act (13/2008) states that it is a responsibility of the commission to educate the public about the dangers of corruption and to promote integrity and honesty in the administration of the state. Creating a national integrity plan is stated as a major objective to be achieved under the second strategic action plan.

Corruption risk assessment of the Health sector.

Anti-Corruption Commission conducted a risk assessment of the Maldivian health sector in 2015. The aim of the research was to identify whether regulations are followed in recruitment of staff and procurement of medical consumables, reagents and machinery.

The research included interviews with focus groups which included heads of STO and officials from Ministry of Health, documents investigation and observing the actual work of the health sector employees. The research concluded that Maldivians were given priority in recruiting and procurement of medical consumables and reagents are carried out in a way that ensures no shortage. Findings of the research has been passed on to the health sector and advice offered to rectify the issues. The full research report has been published on the commission’s website.

UNCAC review and gap analysis

Review of Maldives adherence to UNCAC was conducted in 2010 by the UNCAC implementation review group. The review report was published in 2015.

Corruption Perception Survey, Gn. Fuvahmulah-2016

The ACC conducted a corruption perception survey in Gn. Atoll Fuvahmulah during April 2016. It was administered through questionnaire distributions to household visits in the door to door campaign held to mark the National Anti-Corruption Day of 2016 in Fuvahmulah. The target age group for the survey was above 15 years.  Some notable findings of the survey indicated that majority of respondents knew and understood corruption and integrity. In addition to this, most participants viewed that ‘strengthening the religious beliefs in the community’ is the key to eliminate corruption from the Maldives. The survey results also showed that the executive power, citizens and ACC can collaboratively play the most important role in eradicating corruption from the Maldives.

Release of “True Stories” book

“True Stories” is a collection of selected corruption related cases and stories compiled by ACC.  This is an initiative to increase anti-corruption awareness for the Maldivian society through the Commission’s website. The book includes Dhivehi translations of the true stories published by Transparency International, in their website and other such cases. The stories are true recounts of corruption related incidents from all over the world. Translations of these stories have been previously published weekly in the Commission’s website, as well as in Vnews magazine. Anti-Corruption Commission has published the “True Stories” book on 20th April 2017.

Release of “White Paper” series

The newly introduced white paper series aims to raise consciousness among the public on matters regarding corruption. The paper published on 20th April 2017 was titled “Corruption during the elections –Raising campaign finance against laws and rules”. It is the first paper of the series which will be published periodically in the forthcoming years.

Incorporation of Anti-Corruption in the IGP Phase II of UNDP

Through ACC’s efforts to increase and explore collaborative work with international agencies established in the country, UNDP has consented to include anti-corruption and promotion of integrity in its Integrated Governance Program Phase II. The activities planned in this program are Anti-corruption training to representatives of Civil Society Organizations, conducting a Youth Integrity Festival and Social audit at island level. These activities will be held in Sh.Funadhoo and Gn.Fuvahmulah before the end of 2017.

Understanding Corruption level survey

A survey was conducted to understand the level of corruption in Maldives during 2010 as part of the workshops held by ACC in Aa, F, Ga, Ha, and S atoll.

Preliminary research carried out in H.dh atoll

The survey was carried out from 18th to 29th September 2011 in 13 islands. 292 participants took part in the survey. The aim of the research was to understand the awareness of people towards corruption, how people perceive corruption and how they rate the work done by ACC in preventing corruption. Participants in the research were state employees and citizens.

Corruption perception among civil servants

The survey was carried out from February to March 2014. The aims of the research were to discover the level of corruption with the Maldivian civil service and to understand actions that can be taken to prevent corruption through civil service policies. 1018 samples were used for the research and questionnaires were sent over the internet and directly mailed to civil service offices. The research report has been published on ACC website.

Implementation of the Second Strategic Action Plan of the Commission

Work in formulating the second strategic action plan of the commission commenced in November 2014 and was finished during the first quarter of 2015. The duration set in the plan runs from 2015 till 2019.

“Bithufangi bulletin”

Bithufangi bulletin was introduced with the purpose of sharing the work done by the commission with the public, to promote integrity and increase awareness against corruption and to encourage scholarly writing on anti-corruption.

Creating an Education and Research section

The responsibilities of this section is organizing workshops against corruption, conducting information sessions, preparing for commission’s participation in seminars and training programs and researching anti-corruption laws and reports by foreign institutions working against corruption. In addition, the section also assesses and prepares reports on whether policies made by state institutions open opportunities for corruption and carries out its own research and published reports based on the research.