Lawyers can be 'Gatekeepers of, or Gateway to Corruption

A thought-provoking quote the Internal Revenue Commission PNG Commissioner General Sam Koim shared during the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Seminar on Friday.

A big turnout from the country's legal community, including Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika, demonstrated the judiciary's commitment to ICAC's anti-corruption mandate.

"The Chief Justice is here because he wants ICAC to work. We all are here because we want ICAC to work" Mr. Koim stated

He also recounted the achievements of the now-disbanded Task Force Sweep, which he chaired to highlight the critical challenges that lay ahead of ICAC.

"During our 3 and half years at TaskForce Sweep, we registered 350 cases of which we investigated 93. Out of that, we secured 22 convictions. We also collaborated with Singaporean Authorities which resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of two people for diverting K100m belonging to Papua New Guinea.

"Our work resulted in K242m in tax assessments of which K25.5m was collected at the time of our disbandment. Under Proceeds of Crime proceedings, we recovered about K8.3m. A dozen public servants were dismissed as a result of our work. All of these we achieved at the cost of no more than K15.5m for the 3 and half years that ITFS operated.”

Koim called for greater collaboration not only between the legal community but also among all government departments and agencies to fight corruption which is currently the biggest impediment to the country's growth and development.