Drowning not waving: an update from PNG’s Taskforce Sweep
15 November 2015
GRANT WALTON | Dev Policy Blog
ON Friday 13 November, Papua New Guinea’s Investigation Taskforce Sweep launched a ‘progressive update’ report which provides a summary of the anti-corruption agency’s achievements since its formation in August 2011.
The report states that Taskforce Sweep has registered more than 350 cases of corruption over the past four years. It notes that, thanks to its investigations, K25 million of missing funds have been paid back to the Internal Revenue Commission.
The report claims Taskforce Sweep has identified a further K200 million for recovery. Having initiated 93 criminal cases, the report lists Taskforce Sweep’s 12 successful prosecutions, which include MPs, businessmen and public servants.
It’s heartening to see the report noting that Australian authorities have been freezing bank accounts on the back of Taskforce Sweep investigations. Australia may yet lose its title as the ‘Cayman Islands of the Pacific’.
The report is likely one of the last gasps from this briefly successful agency. Unsurprisingly, given its role in the attempted arrest of current prime minister Peter O’Neill, it has not been allocated any funding in the 2016 national budget.
The agency has not only been under attack from the PNG government. Earlier this year Kristian Lasslett from the International State Crime Initiative accused Taskforce Sweep of numerous failures around investigating Australian businessman, Gudmundur Fridriksson.
His report questioned the agency’s rigour, integrity and professionalism and recommended an “arms-length inquiry be conducted into the Taskforce Sweep investigation by a judicial authority of high standing”.
Whatever the merit of these claims, it’s hard to see an inquiry into Taskforce Sweep operations not being politicised. Such an inquiry would no doubt be welcomed by the current prime minister.
As the most recent Taskforce Sweep report shows, an investigation into Taskforce Sweep will likely be of little use to it or other anti-corruption agencies. Taskforce Sweep is sinking and soon there will be nothing left.
Given that the Taskforce Sweep report claims that the proposed Independent Commission Against Corruption has not been allocated funding in the 2016 budget, there may be no other effective organisation to take its place.
Sad but true. Hopefully the weather changes and Task Force Sweep stays afloat...not sinking.
Posted by: Mathias Kin | 16 November 2015 at 09:17 PM