New chairman to give NAB a revamp

Newly-appointed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari on Tuesday took notice of understaffing in NAB and sought a comprehensive plan to induct talented and committed officers to the under-staffed NAB, Pakistan Today learnt.
Sources revealed the NAB chief was given two detailed briefings on the second day after taking charge of Pakistan’s prime accountability organization.
The source said the NAB Human Resource Management department at 9am briefed the chairman of unoccupied important posts in the body. They told him NAB was 600 personnel short, with the immediate concern being to ‘stock up’ the NAB prosecution branch to handle NAB cases in courts. The source revealed NAB lacks a prosecutor general (PG) amongst other empty posts.
The chairman was informed that in absence of a NAB chairman and prosecutor general no new reference could be filed, no court decision appealed, no reference withdrawn, no investigation or inquiry could be ordered, no plea bargain approved, and no voluntary retirement of corrupt individuals sought. He was told the lack of a head had made NAB dysfunctional and internal rifts had triggered a new controversy which made the bureau itself accountable to the government and taxpayers.
They said when NAB lacked a head, internal tussles including challenges by civilian officers to senior retired military officers employed at NAB, while retired military officers challenged each others credentials in court. They said NAB officers began chasing bonuses but did absolutely nothing.
The source said the chairman was told top officials had created a mess, changed the seniority lists with seniors turned into juniors while juniors made heads of departments and regional offices.”
The source said the NAB chief was told that acting directors general were working at three provincial headquarters with no one appointed as DG Karachi, DG Lahore and DG Rawalpindi. The source said a detailed briefing by the financial crimes investigation wing (FCIW) on cases and inquiries pending and ongoing cases related to banks and other institutions was offered. Bokhari was briefed on sensitive cases, including those relating to prosecution of politicians, servicemen and other government employees vis-à-vis corruption charges and investigations into the allegations. The briefing ended at 1pm, the source said. The source said that after initial briefings, Bokhari spoke about running NAB in a fair and transparent manner but said he wanted to understand the overall functioning of the institution before taking important decisions.