There is a growing public outcry over rampant corruption in Nepal. People believe that corruption is widespread and institutionalised and involves political parties, senior government officials, local elected representatives, business communities and civil societies.

New scandals seem to emerge constantly, with the government stepping up efforts in some cases but arresting only a few individuals involved, who are released soon after. Only junior officials or ordinary individuals are charged and made accountable, sparing the key masterminds and those with influence, party leaders, or senior government officials.

Given the scale, magnitude and possible involvement of the highest level of political leadership and their patronage in the scandals, the public’s concern is that the institutions established to control corruption have become dysfunctional with the meddling of senior party or government officials or prominent business people. These institutions are primarily headed by individuals with patronage from the political party leadership, who protect the perpetrators manipulating the institution’s functioning. Furthermore, given that we have a united government with continued political negotiations taking place, there may be threats to pull down the government if certain give-and-takes are not met; thus, it is unlikely that any action will be taken against anyone involved.

Deputy Prime Minister and senior political leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha recently stated that if the political party members are accused of corruption, the party leadership will complain and threaten the government to pull out their support. If any civil servants are arrested, the protest comes from civil service unions with threats of street-wise demonstrations. Similarly, if those controlling the economy are accused of wrongdoing, they accuse the government of taking steps to destroy the economy. He stated that all political parties, government and business people are wary of punishing their groups of wrongdoers. He questioned whether the government should punish only ordinary people, street vendors, small businessmen, labourers, or poor people if this is the case. He emphasised that it is impossible to have a clean government without real unity and united efforts by all parties to address corruption.

Failure in sustainable development

A massive increase in corruption continues to threaten the country's overall development, including jobs, infrastructure, health, human development, quality of life for every citizen and overall governance. Employment opportunities are less available in the absence of foreign investments and new industries. Lest we forget, some 75,000-80,000 people leave the country every month, seeking employment abroad.

The quality of education in government schools has deteriorated significantly, with only 36 percent passing the latest SEE. Around 100,000 students went abroad for studies in 2023-24 and will most likely not return home. Nepal is bound to lose a new generation of skilled and educated workforce.

Reputated public hospitals have become dysfunctional due to the non-availability of medicine, non-functional equipment and the absence of qualified medical professionals, who are often frustrated by a lack of prospects and seek employment abroad. Many private hospitals and educational institutions have been established but are beyond the reach of the vast majority.

None of the major road projects have been completed on time in recent years. They often double the timeline, overshoot the budget and use substandard work, resulting in substantial economic loss and prolonged inconvenience and suffering to citizens due to bad road conditions, dust pollution and long travel times. Government offices providing basic services, such as the issuance of driving licenses and passports, are notorious for delayed services.

Major scandals

Several major scandals that have been in the limelight in the country include gold smuggling, Bhutanese refugee scams, land properties surrounding the PM Office, the Ncell/Axiata sale case, OMNI-Covid-related purchases, the Giribandu Tea Estate case, Cooperative scandals and many more involving hundreds of millions of dollars. The main concern is that the real culprits are walking free, as they are part of the political leadership or individuals with solid party connections.

As The Kathmandu Post put it in its recent editorial, “Rotten to the Roots”, indicating high local level corruption and “representatives have copied the ways of their federal leaders”. It is reported that out of 28,000 cases filed by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), half of the cases were at the local units in one year. Several such officials were recently reportedly suspended, and thus the local institutions cannot function, potentially threatening the whole process of devolution of power from the centre. Whether local units seriously lack good governance and fiscal transparency also needs to be verified and acted upon.

Partnership against corruption

It is gratifying that Nepal enjoys good friendship and cooperation with many countries, multilateral organisations and the UN, which have been keenly supporting Nepal’s sustainable development, peace processes and democratic transformation. Twenty-five years into the democratic process, there have been significant achievements and friends of Nepal should be proud of their partnerships and cooperation. Nepal is very fortunate that around 26 percent of the annual government budget is supported by development partners.

Nepal is at a turning point, with its citizens increasingly concerned about intuitional corruption and the cartel system. In the absence of serious political commitments and weakness in government institutions, the situation risks further deterioration. This situation goes against the people’s aspirations for the overall sustainable development of Nepal, with a threat to security, stability and hard-earned democracy, devolution of power to the local level and failure to achieve the country’s graduation from LDC status.

In 2014, major development partners and the UN joined together to remind the Nepali government of their concern regarding rising corruption. Leakage in aid leads to a trust deficit among donors, who continue to develop their strategies and find their way of delivering aid at the cost of the overall impact of development support. Nepal has ratified the 2011 UN Convention Against Corruption, so the government should take all measures to fight corruption.

The current situation strongly requires development partners and multilateral institutions, including the UN, to continue to voice their concerns about the institutionalisation of corruption and closely engage with the government in supporting anti-corruption measures on multiple fronts. The outcomes of these efforts will have significant impacts, giving rise to greater values in development aid and across different sectors.

Way forward

Nepal should ensure that its citizens trust its intentions regarding good governance processes, and all known scandals must be transparently resolved. All governance institutions, such as the CIAA, should be reviewed to make them more effective and fully accountable. Every government public service should be improved through digitisation and targeted timelines, including, for example, the delivery of all pending driving licenses.

The development partners must raise concerns about corruption and support the government in strengthening its accountability and transparency process with a robust digital system and other technical assistance. The government should occasionally provide exclusive briefings to the public, media and development partners on the measures it is taking to control corruption.