Over the course of the last two fiscal years, from 2021/2022 to 2022/2023, 910 reports of corruption crimes were received by the Public Anti-Corruption Authority, also known as “Nazaha.” According to Al-Jarida daily, 82 of these reports have been forwarded to the Public Prosecution for additional inquiry and possible legal action. This disclosure was made in response to a memo from Faisal Al-Gharib, Minister of Justice and Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, in answer to a question earlier raised by MP Fahd Al-Masoud concerning corruption complaints that Nazaha handled within the allotted time frame.

Nazaha described how it handles reports it receives. First, it verifies the formal and substantive requirements for accepting the report. Next, it registers the report and starts an investigation. These processes involve making preliminary inquiries, calling witnesses, obtaining pertinent data, and drawing conclusions about alleged instances of corruption. When there is ongoing administrative violations without any evidence of corruption, Nazaha notifies the appropriate authorities to initiate administrative investigations and take corrective action to stop such violations in the future.

Nazaha said that 82 cases were forwarded to the Public Prosecution for additional investigation in response to allegations that raised suspicions of corruption charges, as per Article No. 22 of the legislation creating the Authority. In addition, Nazaha emphasized the 240 sessions it has held of awareness programs designed to improve integrity, fight corruption, and make stakeholders aware of the range of work that Nazaha does. These courses address issues like asset recovery, employee rehabilitation, money laundering, and the establishment of regulations pertaining to conflicts of interest and information access rights.