Sacked chairman spills the beans on corruption in ACE

KARACHI: A senior government official, who has recently been removed by the provincial government from the chairmanship of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), has alleged that a “system of corruption” in the provincial anti-graft watchdog was being run by a “private person” and that he was sacked only because he refused to become part of the corrupt system.

On May 31, the Sindh government had transferred ACE chairman Farhat Junejo, a BS-21 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan, and directed him to report to Service, General Administration and Coordination department with immediate effect.

While the Sindh government did not give any reason for his removal, Mr Junejo, who was posted as the ACE chairman around two months ago, believed that the decision was taken since he was being seen as a “threat to the corruption system”.

In a letter sent to Sindh Enquiries and Anti-corruption Minister Mohammad Bux Mahar, Mr Junejo alleged that “a system of corruption is extracting Rs60-70 million on a monthly basis from different government departments / organisations”.

However, a spokesperson for the minister denied all charges, saying “levelling such baseless allegations by a respectable person is regrettable”.

‘An auction house’

“A department that needs to be pride of Sindh government is being run like an auction house,” he stated in the letter, which is widely circulating on social media.

In the letter addressed to the minister, he said that right before Eidul Fitr, he was given an envelope by an ACE director as a share of graft money. He said he returned it to him, saying “this money is tainted with blood of people because it has been extorted from hospitals, food department, education dept, etc”.

Mr Junejo stated that the next day he told the same to the private person, who according to him is running the “corruption system in the ACE”.

“From that time onward I was being seen as a threat to the corruption system,” he wrote in the letter.

Referring to his meeting with the minister in which the said director and the private person were also present, Mr Junejo recalled that he had also complained about “undue interference” in his department.

He alleged that some officials in the ACE were running the affairs of the anti-graft body “purely on monetary/corruption considerations without an iota of focus on professionalism, public service, uplifting image and pride of department”.

Mr Junejo alleged that the “corruption system” in the ACE was minting “Rs60-70 million per month”.

He also added that the said director and the private person extracted Rs1.5m each from the newly posted deputy directors and Rs500,000 to Rs1m from each Circle Officer.

Minister’s response

A spokesperson for ACE Minister Mohammed Bux Mahar said in a statement that the ACE chairman had levelled baseless allegations after removal from his post. “When the Sindh government transferred Farhat Junejo, he started levelling such charges. Why did he not issue such a statement when he was heading the ACE,” it asked.

“Such a wrong statement by a senior officer is regrettable,” said the spokesperson, adding that it (the charges) would be probed.

“Despite being a senior officer, Farhat Junejo had indulged himself in such activities, which reflected his competence and mental state,” the statement added.

Mr Junejo did not respond to Dawn’s attempts to reach out to him on his cell phone and on Whatsapp to get his version on the letter.

However, Chief Minister House Spokesperson Rasheed Channa told Dawn that Mr Junejo had not made any official correspondence with the CM.

He said that a letter was being shared on media, but it was written on a simple paper and did not contain Mr Junejo’s name.