43 agencies rated Excellent by  ACC

43 agencies rated Excellent by ACC

In its ongoing mission to foster a corruption-resilient, accountable, and transparent public sector, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has rolled out an extensive suite of anti-corruption tools under the Organizational Integrity Program (OIP). These tools were evaluated across 92 public sector agencies during the fiscal year 2023-2024, yielding remarkable insights into their effectiveness.

The evaluation revealed promising results, with 43 agencies achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating, scoring a perfect 100%. This underscores a robust commitment to integrity and anti-corruption measures. However, 17 agencies were rated ‘Poor’, signaling an urgent need for intervention to enhance service delivery and governance. The average OIP score across all agencies stood at 83.9%, reflecting both achievements and areas for improvement.

Several ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MoAL), Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MoENR), Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Health (MoH), and Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Employment (MoICE), excelled with perfect scores of 100%. Conversely, the Ministry of Education, Skills and Development (MoESD) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MoFAET) scored 50%, pulling the average score for ministries down to 86.8%.

Among provincial administrations (Dzongkhags), most recorded high OIP scores. However, Punakha and Trashigang lagged with scores of 21% and 33%, respectively, bringing the average Dzongkhag score to 85.6%.

Urban governance (Thromdes) showed outstanding performance, with Gelephu and Phuentsholing achieving 100%, while Thimphu Thromde scored 83.3%, resulting in an impressive average of 95.8%.

The Judiciary and Constitutional Offices displayed mixed performance. While the ACC, Royal Audit Authority (RAA), and Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) achieved 100%, the Judiciary struggled with a low score of 35%, pulling the overall average for Constitutional Offices to 80.4%.

Autonomous agencies showed significant variability, with scores ranging from a low of 8.3% for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to perfect scores in other agencies, resulting in an average of 84.1%.

Meanwhile, the disparities in scores stem from several challenges, including: delayed or incomplete document submissions, often due to changes in focal persons, inadequate handover processes, leading to confusion among officers regarding responsibilities and submission of irrelevant or outdated documentation, even after multiple reminders from the ACC.

To address these gaps, the ACC has emphasized on capacity building through targeted training for low-performing agencies, enhanced oversight to ensure adherence to anti-corruption measures and learning from high-performing agencies to standardize best practices across the board.

Despite progress, areas like Conflict of Interest Management (CoI), Integrity Vetting, and Grievance Redressal exhibit solid implementation rates exceeding 87%, but adherence to the Code of Conduct (CoC) lags at 61.8%. This underscores the need for a cultural shift within organizations to embed ethical guidelines into daily operations.

The ACC says it remains steadfast in its commitment to building a transparent and accountable public sector. By addressing existing challenges and leveraging successes, Bhutan can continue to strengthen its governance framework, ensuring a corruption-free environment for all citizens.

Sangay Rabten from Thimphu