The Offices of the Inspectors General was another kind of anti-corruption body, charged with monitoring waste and abuse of public funding. But they have also failed to achieve much. Often the ministers or their staff have succeeded in controlling the inspectors because the inspectors’ own offices are usually inside the ministry they are tasked with watching.
Some of the inspectors were even well known for getting involved in corrupt practices. For example, Adel Muhsen, the Health Ministry's inspector general, was accused of doing dodgy deals - but when his file was transferred to the Commission of Integrity he too managed to escape the country.
On Nov. 20, the Iraqi parliament voted to close these inspectors general offices down, a clear indication of their abject failure.
More recently, al-Abadi decided that the administrative board of Najaf’s airport should be dissolved due to corruption. But it never happened. The board of directors, which has members belonging to the Badr organization and the Sadrist movement refused to hand over the keys. The airport provides part of the each of these parties’ funding.
Apparently due to problems within the system itself, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has tasked international specialists with looking at provincial and federal contracts for various investments or stalled projects over the past decade. The government refuses to furnish anyone with any further information on the makeup of this specialist team though. Leaked information suggests the team will begin work next year.
To kick off the anti-corruption campaign last week, parliament began questioning several ministers who have been accused of corruption. The Minister of Communications, Hassan Khadim al-Rashid, was questioned but there were no tangible results. During questioning of the country’s Minister of Electricity, Qassim al-Fahadawi, there was an insufficient quorum because some members of his political bloc withdrew from the session. Political parties protect their own members by forming alliances with other parties, says one MP, Hanan al-Fatlawi.
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