As controlling corruption has become a tall order, the government agencies that are given responsibility for curbing and reducing corruption are divided and clueless on how to bring down the numbers of cases in the country.

During a discussion at the State Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday, Prem Kumar Rai, the chief commissioner of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), said that the CIAA alone cannot control corruption and needs support from various government agencies. The parliamentary committee was convened to deliberate on amending the CIAA Act 2048 BS. The CIAA is now seeking greater authority to investigate corruption in the private sector, but most political parties are opposed to this idea.

CIAA chief Rai said there is rampant corruption at the local level and across state organs but the government has failed to take action against the corrupt government employees.

“If we go look at the government records, the government has taken action against hardly 100 civil servants since the Civil Service Act came into effect in 1993,” said Rai.

“If any government employee commits wrongdoing, it is not solely the CIAA’s responsibility to take action. The government or relevant ministry or department should take action. In the past 30 years since the act came into effect, not more than 100 civil servants have faced action,” said Rai.

He also explained why ministries and departments have failed to take action against corrupt officials. When department heads attempt to take action against such employees, civil servant trade unions often retaliate by either transferring these department heads or they are subjected to threats and physical violence.

Trade unions are everywhere, and department heads fear retribution from the unions, which has led to inaction, added Rai.

Prime Minister KP Oli was also invited to the meeting but he did not attend. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak was present in the meeting and he said the government has adopted a zero-tolerance approach against corruption and that all investigations will be impartial.

Some lawmakers at the meeting raised the issue of the arrest of Rastriya Swatantra Party chief Rabi Lamichhane. Nepal Police arrested Lamichhane on charges of cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering.

Some RSP lawmakers, including Chanda Karki, argued that since Lamichhane is the leader of the fourth largest party in the House of Representatives and won’t leave the country, he should be released while the investigation continues. “The RSP garnered 1.2 million votes in the last election, so people spontaneously took to the streets [to oppose his arrest],” she said.

But CPN-UML lawmaker Raghuji Pant disputed Karki’s claim. “Even if someone has the support of 20 million voters, they should respect the legal process when facing charges. The RSP chair is in police custody and this party is holding protests against the arrest on a daily basis,” he said.

Nepali Congress lawmaker Sarita Prasai said the government has not labeled Lamichhane as corrupt and that no one is above the law, so they should respect the legal procedure.

RSP’s street protests against the arrest of its leader shows the party is intolerant, she said.

Home Minister Lekhak stressed that all those accused of corruption, funds misuse, and other crimes will be investigated and many are behind bars. “Investigating agencies won’t discriminate between ruling or opposition parties. They focus on evidence and not on who the accused is,” said Lekhak.

Some lawmakers including Durga Rai of the CPN (Maoist Centre) had asked the CIAA chief whether the UML should accept land from a businessman, Min Bahadur Gurung, who owns several businesses including Bhatbhateni, a famous supermarket chain.

Prasai of the Nepali Congress also objected to UML’s acceptance of the land “gifted” by the controversial businessman. “Both, those who gifted the land and those who accepted it, should face legal consequences because this is corruption,” she said, questioning, “What would happen if lawmakers started accepting ‘gifts’ like the UML did.”

Earlier this month, the CPN-UML accepted land in the Kirtipur area as a “gift” from Gurung, who has also pledged to construct a party headquarters building within a year. This has sparked huge controversy.

Another Nepali Congress lawmaker, Hridayaram Thani, asked about the progress made in investigating other corruption scandals involving the Giri Bandhu Tea Estate land, Yeti group, and Omni Group’s procurement of medical supplies during the Covid pandemic, among others. These scams involve leaders of the Congress, UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre).

These are the past corruption related scandals and leaders of Nepali Congress, CPN—UML and CPN ( Maoist Centre) are involved.

“Is this government planning to investigate these scams?” Thani said, adding that rampant corruption and growing public anger have threatened the very political system.