National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman chaired a meeting at NAB Headquarters to review progress and feedback on training and capacity building courses refresher courses conducted for NAB’s investigation officers (IOs) and prosecutors by their training and research division during 2016, according to a press release.
Qamar Zaman said that NAB accords a high priority to the training of its investigation officers, prosecutors, and staff, as training is an important aspect in the capacity building of all ranks of the NAB.
He said that the NAB has been assigned a major responsibility of eradicating corruption and corrupt practices from the country and bringing the guilty to book. “An effective execution of this mandate necessitates continuous professional competence of our human resource,” he said.
The chairman said that the NAB recognises the centrality of training as a tool of improvement and maintaining the quality of its manpower. He said that a standardised syllabus for all investigation officers, refresher and capacity building courses on accounts matters, general financial rules, digital forensic question documents and fingerprint analysis have been formulated by the NAB to ensure quality and uniformity.
“These will help the NAB in achieving a standard application of standard operating procedures (SOPs), laws and rules. The performance objectives of training programs are being continuously evaluated so as to form a basis for subsequent review and improvements in future training,” Zaman said.
The NAB also plans to have its own training academy which will be established at the NAB headquarters. A digital forensic science lab has been established in Rawalpindi which has the capacities of digital forensics, question documents, and fingerprint analysis for investigation officers and prosecutors to use in order to investigate cases within stipulated time periods according to SOPs.
He directed the training and research division to formulate a report on the current status of the establishment of the NAB’s anticorruption training academy on the pattern of the Malaysian anticorruption academy.
Libraries have also been established at NAB headquarters and regional bureaus in order to facilitate investigation officers and prosecutors. The libraries house corruption case files and court judgements from all over the country.
The NAB also has an e-Library at NAB headquarters with more than 40, 000 entries including law journals, yearly law reports, and monthly law reports etc. The NAB plans to have access to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Library which will be beneficial for NAB officers/official in the collection of relevant information for the expeditious disposal of cases.