Pacific Anti-Corruption Updates (13 June 2020): Fiji, PNG, Nauru

-

Albert Schram: University governance, academic freedom and institutional autonomy in the Pacific During the last weeks, after reports emerged about gross mismanagement and breaches of the rules of the university at USP under the former administration, this week the Executive Committee of the University Council decided to suspend the current vice-chancellor for alleged “misconduct and breach of rules and procedures”, despite all the evidence pointed in the opposite direction of the former administration and some council members.  

  

USP Vice Chancellor’s Office to look into allegations levelled against the USP Students Association 

There is confirmation that the University of the South Pacific’s Acting Vice Chancellor Professor Derrick Armstrong will look at investigating allegations made by a group called the Students Anti-Corruption Alliance against the USP Students Association Federal. 

  

  

FIJI:  

Former Fisheries Revenue Collector Charged A former revenue collector at the Ministry of Fisheries was produced in the Rakiraki Magistrates Court today on corruption related charges. 

  

Suspended USP Vice-Chancellor says he's victim of 'witch-hunt' There were protests at the main Suva campus this week as a year of tensions over allegations of corruption and employment issues came to a head. 

  

  

PNG:  

PNG minister suggests new ICAC be headed by a foreigner A foreigner should head Papua New Guinea's new independent anti-corruption agency, a government minister says. 

  

PNG Police Minister says it takes time to address corruption Papua New Guinea's Police Minister Bryan Kramer says prosecuting high-profile corruption takes time. 

  

IRC has no place for corrupt officers : Koim Mr. Koim made this bold statement after announcing the arrest of one officer and the dismissal of another for separate misconducts.  

  

  

NAURU:  

Nauru president accuses Fiji group of ‘hijacking’ USP in vendetta Allegations of serious cases of mismanagement and abuse of process surfaced at the USP involving its former vice chancellor and president in May last year and were widely reported on by Island Business in June and other Pacific media.  

  

 

 

To know more about the UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project please contact: 

Annika Wythes, Regional Anti-Corruption Adviser, UNODC, annika.wythes@un.org 

Popular posts from this blog

Middle East & North Africa - Ukraine - Sri Lanka

-
Corruption fuels ongoing conflict. The Middle East and North Africa has been in a decline on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for years. The region is also ranked as the "least peaceful region" according to the Global Peace Index. Transparency International (TI) argues that corruption, conflict, and security are profoundly intertwined. TI: https://www.transparency.org/en/news/cpi-2022-middle-east-north-africa-corruption-fuels-ongoing-conflict   [Opinion] Ukraine's corruption purge is setting the stage for private investment-driven recovery. Corruption is regarded as a key threat to the Ukrainian economy, depriving public budgets and discouraging foreign direct investments (FDI). The current administration has taken strong anti-corruption action, and the country has witnessed a significant increase in FDI in recent years, says author. DevDiscourse: https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/2353089-ukraines-corruption-purge-setting-stage-...
Read more

The Pacific - Nepal - Eastern Europe & Central Asia

-
[Blog] How are perceptions of corruption in seven small Pacific countries? Larger Pacific Island neighbors are often garnering the lion's share of attention both from researchers and policy makers. How are the experiences of corruption in countries like Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), The Cook Islands, Palau, and Nauru? DevPolicy Blog: https://devpolicy.org/perceptions-of-corruption-in-seven-small-pacific-island-countries-20230223/   [Opinion] Two decades of new anti-corruption law in Nepal: Why it missed its mark. According to a Nepalese journalist, the Anti-Corruption law and Prevention of Corruption act of 2002 laid the foundation for numerous investigations, scandals, and court cases. To a large extent, they did however fail to enable significant conviction and return of assets. Online Khabar: https://english.onlinekhabar.com/anti-corruption-law-missing-target.html   [Blog] Growing security risks and authorit...
Read more

Global - Sub-Saharan Africa - Turkey & Syria

-
Invisible Trillions review: Global capitalism operates beyond the rule of law and threatens democracy. Raymond W. Baker's new book "Invisible Trillions" argues that "secrecy has become as important for corporations as transparent and taxable profits used to be". "Only radical improvements across the globe in financial transparency and accountability, and in regulatory capacity and integrity, can break this cycle of political decay and despair". The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/invisible-trillions-review-global-capitalism-operates-beyond-the-rule-of-law-and-threatens-democracy-199311   [Blog] The dynamics of violent extremism in sub-Saharan Africa. There is no better environment for the expansion of violent extremist groups than a vacuum in state authority. These groups begin to compete with the state and may even be initially attractive to communities weary of years of lawlessness, corruption, and chaos according to autho...
Read more