By Deepak Joshi Pokhrel

There is an old axiom in English that says, “Corruption is worse than prostitution,” because the latter endangers the morals of an individual while the former invariably endangers the morals of the country. This saying is very relevant in the Nepalese context, as we are morally corrupt because we resort to any tactics to earn quick and illegal money, be it by abuse of authority, manipulating documents, or carrying out fraudulent practices.

Just recently, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a corruption case against Surya Prasad Silwal, Chairperson of Nepal Insurance Authority, accusing him of misusing his position, submitting false documents, and carrying out fraudulent practices. In the words of CIAA’s spokesperson, Narhari Ghimere, Silwal manipulated official documents, including citizenship and passport records, to alter his date of birth. The reason for engaging in such immoral and unethical practices is very simple: this will enable him to extend his tenure and receive undue benefits.

It is reported that despite reaching the mandatory retirement age of 66 on July 31, 2023, Silwal allegedly continued in his role, misusing his position and enjoying state-sponsored privileges for an additional nine months. While the Nepalese government and international communities have been pouring millions of rupees yearly into ending the corruption in Nepal, the above-outlined case raises a big question asking what really went wrong in tackling this menace. 

Not only is the Nepal Insurance Authority, but our aviation sector is no less either. Nepal Aviation came to public scrutiny when it was reported that Nepali officials were paid USD 2.5 million in bribes to seal the contract for the USD 209.6 million Airbus deal—the largest in Nepal’s aviation history. Deepak Sharma, a former executive of the US-based aviation service provider AAR, pleaded guilty in July this year to conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) anti-bribery provisions.

Another graft case related to excise duty sticker printing came to the media limelight just last month. The court found that Printing Centre Executive Director Bikal Paudel and former director of the National Information Technology Centre Safal Shrestha had committed corruption through collusion by taking advance payments. The court concluded that both had caused a loss of Rs 34.2 million each.

The corruption in Nepal is deeply embedded in the social fabric and individual psyche. One can easily earn quick and illegal money without being caught. Even when they are caught, they get away very easily due to weak punishment provisions. Over the years, many high-profile figures were arrested on charges of abuse of authority. However, they were slapped with a minimum fine and a few years in jail as a punishment. With such a weak penalty, the corruption will never end in Nepal.

Just two weeks ago, our northern neighbor, China, in its campaign against graft, executed a former official for corruption. However, this scribe, through this piece, is not advocating for implementing the death sentence in Nepal. My submission is that there should be very stringent punishment for those involved in scams and corruption. This will discourage people from being involved in such unethical and immoral activities, fearing punishment and law and order.

In Nepal, everyone is corrupt—be it politicians, traders, bureaucrats, social activists, lawyers, doctors, security personnel, etc. We often see a person with moderate stature who has been living a lavish life in the country. They own a multi-story building in posh areas and luxurious cars that a common Nepalese cannot imagine owning. Such a lifestyle is not possible with a legal source of income, especially at a time when inflation is breaking the backbone of commoners. To say, their lavish lifestyle is disproportionate to their legal source of income. This is an issue of grave concern. However, such issues are seldom discussed and accounted for.

Transparency International, a global anti-corruption group based in Berlin, placed Nepal among the most corrupt nations in the world. According to the Corruption Perception Index 2023, an annual flagship publication of Transparency, Nepal ranks in 108th position out of 180 countries in the corruption perception index. This is not at all a good ranking despite having all the legal tools and constitutional remedies in place to tackle corruption.

Over the years, our government and non-government actors have implemented several programs aimed at ending corruption once and for all. They poured billions of rupees into ensuring that corruption decreases, laying the ground to improve our position in terms of ranking. But their effort seems to deliver results far from satisfactory. As a result, corruption continues to thrive in our society.

This reminds us of great scholar Rigoberta Menchú Tum, a Nobel Prize laureate, saying, “Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which the system of corruption is built.” Her remarks are very rational in the Nepalese context, as the culture of impunity is rampant, breeding the ground to trigger corruption at every level—local, provincial, and federal.

No doubt, we have transformed politically, economically, and culturally. But when it comes to moral aspects, we still have a long way to go. Our morality and ethics are nowhere near the people of other least-developed nations, let alone the Scandinavian countries. We will be graduating from the Least Developed Countries status in 2026. This is truly a huge achievement for us. But let's hope that corruption will not play the spoilsport and hinder our further progress.