JIACC chief says agency seeks ‘revolution’ in fight against graft

AMMAN — The Jordan Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) director on Monday pledged to “create a revolution” in the work of the JIACC to fight corruption in Jordan.

“We, at the JIACC, are working to formulate a 10-year National Strategy of Integrity and Anti-Corruption that will commence on January 1, 2017,” JIACC President Mohammad Allaf told reporters.

He added that he was hopeful that this strategy would create “a revolution that will help reshape the public opinion and help rebuild the lost trust of the public with the government and its institutes by fighting pressing matters such as corruption, wasta and nepotism”.

During a meeting with the press at JIACC headquarters in Amman to discuss the main pillars of the plan, action programmes and timeframe, the JIACC president said the strategy focuses on developing preventive measures that will deter corruption before it occurs.

“Our holy message is to protect public funds by preventing individuals from abusing it,” Allaf added.

In his sixth Royal Discussion Paper on the Rule of Law and Civil State that was released in mid-October, His Majesty King Abdullah referred to the formation of the JIACC, as an effort to streamline and boost anti-graft efforts as well as advance transparency and justice.

King Abdullah pointed out that the JIACC and other entities such as the Audit Bureau, ministries and institutions along with the Parliament, “are effective oversight mechanisms that would ensure that the rule of law is upheld”.

“These units and institutions should put the interests of the country and citizens first and foremost, while the judiciary looks into appeals and complaints against administrative decisions and corruption cases,” the King said in his paper.

JIACC completed in the summer the procedures to merge the Ombudsman Bureau and the Anti-Corruption Commission into the new umbrella commission that had become the legal successor to both institutions as of June 15.

The commission, which is administratively and financially independent, is managed and supervised by a president and four board members, according to the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Law of 2015.