1. MACC REFORM INITIATIVES
The MACC often finds itself under much public scrutiny, given the worrying state of corruption in the country. As the primary law enforcement body in the country, it is axiomatic that MACC must be seen to be independent and impartial in all its work. In reality however, the commission admits to various limitations in its legal mandate to effectively combat corruption.
C4 Center together with the Bar Council and other groups, are mooting various proposals aimed at strengthening the MACC. At the heart of these proposals is the establishment of a constitutionally mandated Anti Corruption Service Commission, that will provide oversight to the MACC. Various sections of the MACC Act will be targeted for amendments i.e Sections 23 & 36 to allow MACC powers to deal with persons who live beyond their means, and enforce asset declaration measures.
Consequent to a full package of reforms are amendments to other related legislations such as the Official Secrets Act 1972 the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 and the Witness Protection Act 2009 which need further fine tuning and amendments.
2. OPEN GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
Governance and Integrity are issues fast gaining traction in government. More and more Malaysians are becoming aware of the ills and weaknesses in our government administration, and are demanding greater accountability and responsiveness on issues of public policy and public interest.
Transparency breeds accountability, and accountability in turn nourishes to a culture of integrity and responsibility. C4 Center works to change the culture of government, by pushing for greater openness and responsiveness in government, so that civic participation in public policy is made meaningful and duly respected.
C4 center advocates for greater freedom of information laws and policies, teaches communities to use these legislations in states that have such enactments, challenges secrecy laws, promotes better oversight mechanisms whistleblower protection policies and holds talks and forums to deliberate policies on opening up governments.
3. LOCAL GOVERNMENT INTEGRITY
Embracing the vast opportunities of internet technology to help boost accountability and transparency in local government, C4 Center has created innovative reporting tools to push government to account for their actions.
With poor public services delivery being a bane to many city folks, a mobile app is being used as a creative platform to get residents voices organised.
The MyCleanCity app, available on Android and iPhone, is an innovative tool that helps citizens get organized to keep their city clean. By being the eyes and ears of the local authorities, residents can help identify local problems or solutions through the following 3 mechanisms.
a. Resident Complaints – Residents can help to identify a local problem and submit complaints directly to be resolved by local authority. Residents can then monitor the progress of their complaints based on service level agreements of the council.
b. Catch the Culprit – Residents play the role of agents for local authority to identify recalcitrant wrongdoers in their neighbourhood such as litter bugs or loan sharks promoters. For their efforts, residents can be rewarded for their role in helping the local authority
c. Resident Thinkbox – Residents can help to improve the city by providing constructive ideas that can be implemented by local authority. This system provides an opportunity for resident to horn their creative thinking as good ideas with strong community supported will be presented to a special committee
The project is currently being piloted in Petaling Jaya, and best practices learnt from this project is expected to be replicated to other councils.
4. COMBAT CORRUPTION
C4 Center runs a crowd-sourcing programme on the Auditor General’s report findings each time it is presented to Parliament. The Auditor general runs an audit of public sector agencies, government departments and government linked companies to report on the performance of public sector officials, wastage and leakages detected in financial budgets and allocations for various government programmes.
Millions of ringgit has been lost due to negligence, misconduct and corruption.
The crowd-sourcing programme aims to raise citizens’ consciousness and build civic engagement on government accountability and public policy.
The interactive site is called COMBATCORRUPTION.MY.
5. RURAL COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Corruption impacts on the poor and rural communities in complex and devastating ways. It distorts allocations meant for poverty alleviation, destroys democratic institutions and entrenches poor governance and patronage politics.
Realizing the importance of reaching these communities, with anti corruption and human rights frameworks, C4 Center aims to build capacities and empower the community leaders to understand their rights, identify bribes and corrupt practices, and report wrong doing, through a series of training programmes.
Communities targeted include indigenous peoples and rural youth.