corruption

Oversight council lacks teeth

jorge Fernández/LA PRENSA

Ana Matilde Gómez1029947

After nearly four years of operation, the Consejo Nacional de Transparencia contra la Corrupción has not provided the results

Panamanian citizens had expected, said Procuradora de la Nación, or Attorney General, Ana Matilde Gómez yesterday.

After participating in a review of the council´s performance, Gomez noted that the reason for its failure lies in the fact that its recommendations are not welcomed by "high level" government officials.

She explained that although each of the entities making up the organization, including those of the Ministerio Público, had completed the duties assigned them by the Consejo, on the whole, the council had not made a great enough impact.

"The council may give its opinion, but who is going to take it into account? The council may make a proposal, but what does it matter if no one pays attention to it?," said Gómez. "Is the council´s presence important enough that the administration feels its impact on public policy and institutions? I would say that we still have a lot left to do."

One of the things Gómez would like to do is have those who make decisions in government acknowledge the decisions made by the council. On the subject of corruption, for example, the attorney general admitted that there has been an increase in cases, and that this was due to a rise in the number of public officials, an increase in complaints and transparency, and the inability to change the culture that serves as a breeding ground for such crimes.

Gómez then returned to the theme of the new Código Penal, emphasizing that while it is a "breakthrough" tool in combating corruption, it must include offenses such as the hiring of "botellas," that is, employing someone who paid by the government to fill an inessential bureaucratic position.

Alma Montenegro, the secretaria ejecutiva del Consejo, said that the number of corruption cases has dropped, or at least the number arriving in his office. Montenegro reported that a consulting agency hired to perform an independent evaluation of the council´s effectiveness concluded that the struggle against corruption requires more resources and the participation of authorities and the public alike, an evaluation she agreed with.

The Consejo´s effectiveness in combating corruption depends on the efficiency of the government, she said, since it's not worth sending these cases before the courts if they are not going to be sentenced. That, said Montenegro, creates a general sense of impunity.