Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)'s President Mariyam Shiuna, on Tuesday, revealed that more than 800 cases, some of which were filed ten years ago, were pending at the time she assumed her position in September 2018.
Speaking at the parliament's budget committee, Shiuna attributed delays in ACC's investigations to a shortage of human resources. The commission's president expressed the need to hire 25 more staff in order to expedite cases as each investigation officer at ACC is currently overseeing 16 cases. While there are a total of 107 individuals employed at the commission, 45 of them are investigation officers.
The corruption watchdog's president further added that around 12 cases are reported to the commission daily while approximately 260 cases are reported per month.
Shiuna also stated that the computer systems utilized for the commission's investigations were in need of upgrades. In addition to acquiring administrative products, she also noted that ACC had to update its network.
"When the budget was submitted, MVR 8.8 million was proposed under the new policy initiative. However, only MVR 1.9 million was approved."
She highlighted that ACC conducted several trips to increase public awareness and conduct investigations, asserting that the allocated funds were insufficient for such purposes.
The ACC president went on to reveal that the budget for 2019 was completely exhausted and that external funds had to be used to pay salaries for workers in December.
Shiuna revealed the need to increase the 2020 budget allocation to MVR 41.6 million in order to hire more workers and update their network. ACC was designated MVR 34.8 million for next year.
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