In anticipation of the Auditor General’s (AG) report (3rd series) set to be presented in Parliament next Monday, 10 November 2014, the Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4), is pleased to announce a new and innovative crowd sourcing campaign to fuel citizens interest on public sector accountability through the findings of the Auditor General’s report.
The Auditor General’s report is the culmination of a formal audit and appraisal process of the public sector in Malaysia in accordance with the Audit Act 1957. There are 27 ministries, 110 departments and 118 statutory bodies at the federal level, and 13 State Treasury offices, 251 departments, 145 statutory bodies, 145 local authorities and 16 Islamic Religious Councils at the state level in Malaysia that falls within the ambit of the National Audit Department. The Auditor General must be commended for his efforts in using a direct and unbiased approach in his appraisals and has sought to call a spade a spade, a rare trait in our public service today.
Financial accountability of public monies has been a constant bane in Malaysia. A lack of transparent policies and poor budgetary controls, have all but left a gaping hole in public confidence among Malaysians over fiscal governance and its management.
It comes as no surprise then, that when the Auditor General’s reports get presented in Parliament, it often meets with stunned reactions, followed by raucous and vociferous debates, over the scale of offences highlighted. These range from procedural irregularities, indiscipline to outright notoriety such as mismanaging public funds, soliciting bribes and engaging in corrupt practices. Needless to say these dishonorable acts have cost Malaysian taxpayers whooping losses in millions of ringgit year after year.
Despite subsidy cuts and higher costs of living slapped onto Malaysians, the Prime Minister’s speech of budget 2015 fell silent on the issues of leakages and addressing corruption as important policy measures for the future, to promote improved accountability and financial management of the public sector.
WHY CROWD SOURCE THE AUDITOR GENERAL (AG) REPORT?
HOW WILL OUR VOICES GET HEARD?
In recent years AG report has outlined important attestations of outrageous episodes of wastage, leakages and blatant corruption. The millions lost through such ignominious means could have been used to alleviate peoples’ financial burdens and reduce ballooning government debts. The mass media gets into a frenzy for a short while only to have it fizzle out just as quickly.
So how do we get our voices heard? How can we build a collective momentum, and have a say as tax paying citizens, that we demand better control and management over how our country runs its finances?.
Crowd sourcing responses on the AG report is one innovative way of garnering our thoughts and attention on public spending and finding ways to work with and offer solutions to the government in order to nip poor government practices plaguing our public service. Our collective voices, and strengthened responses must push for citizens to become key stakeholders in paving the way towards greater government accountability.
This campaign is an attempt to fuel public momentum and build constructive feedback into the findings of the Auditor General’s report. It seeks to capture the interests of the majority of Malaysians to grasp the gravity of the issues at hand, question the administration of our failing fiscal governance, and raise important questions over who should take the responsibility for such notoriety and where really should the buck stop in ensuring a competent and efficient administration.
HERE IS HOW THE CAMPAIGN WILL WORK
THE 3RD SERIES of the Auditor General’s report will be tabled in Parliament next week.
The crowd sourcing website, known as www.combatcorruption.my will be up and running by Tuesday, 11 November, a day after the AG report is tabled.
Citizens will be encouraged to actively engage in constructive comments and feedback. Commentaries from MPs and news clippings will be uploaded to allow good sources of updated information on the AG report.
Our team in C4 will be entrusted pick the best most constructive 100 – 150 comments, compile it into a citizens’ report, and hand it over to the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament for further action. It will be the first ever citizens initiative handed over to the committee tasked with acting on the findings of the AG report and concerns over public spending.
Offline initiatives will also be organized to generate momentum into the crowd sourcing website to build the collective momentum needed to assert that as tax paying citizens we will no longer sit by and allow wastage and leakages to flourish unchecked.
Released By
C4 Board of Directors
Cynthia Gabriel, Richard Yeoh, Ahmad Farouk Musa, Tan Sri Simon Sipaun
