Thematic Session of the Government of Canton Sarajevo: US Embassy Provides Full Support to the Office for the Fight against Corruption

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The US Embassy provides strong support to activities aimed at preventing and fighting corruption, and advanced analytical software has been donated to the Office for the Fight against Corruption and Quality Management of the Sarajevo Canton.

The Government of the Sarajevo Canton held a thematic session yesterday dedicated to the activities undertaken by the Office for the Fight against Corruption and Quality Management in the Sarajevo Canton. At the beginning of the session, the members of the Government were addressed by the anti-corruption advisor in the Office, Eric Larson.

Advisor Larson spoke about his role in the Office, as well as the support of the Embassy of the United States of America. He praised the numerous activities that this Office undertakes in preventing and detecting corrupt actions in the public sector of the Sarajevo Canton, despite limited staffing capacities. Control of public procurement and employment in public institutions, as well as cooperation and action with municipalities in corruption prevention, are areas where significant progress has been made, Larson assessed. Advisor Larson particularly highlighted the Law on Reporting and Verification of Asset Data of Public Office Holders of the Sarajevo Canton, as one of the most significant anti-corruption regulations adopted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressing hope that other levels of government will adopt a similar law.

He emphasized that he personally, as well as the Embassy, will continue to provide support to the initiated and planned anti-corruption activities.

In the continuation of the session, the Head of the Office, Erduan Kafedžić, informed the Government about the activities being carried out on the prevention, suppression, and detection of corruption in the public sector, and presented the Office's information system.

Special attention was paid to the system of control and monitoring of public procurement in the Sarajevo Canton, which carries a high risk of corruption, as well as to considering mechanisms for improving the prevention and sanctioning of corruption in this segment, responsibilities related to the transparent conduct of public procurement and their monitoring, and the methods of reporting corruption and the Office's procedures.

The Head of the Office, Erduan Kafedžić, presented to the Government statistical information from the register of reports by sectors and areas in the public sector. The Office received about 1,300 reports in the last four years, and as Kafedžić pointed out, the encouragement for reporting irregularities increased after the engagement of advisor Larson in the Office. The highest number of reports is in the field of education, in public enterprises, and in municipal administrative bodies.

It was emphasized that the Government of the Sarajevo Canton will continue to work on improving legislation, in order to increase the level of responsibility as well as the application of sanctions for persons who abuse official positions and grossly violate and repeat irregularities in business. In addition, the Government has initiated activities aimed at centralizing public procurement, transparently displaying expenditures and allocation of funds in all segments, and has initiated the drafting of a law on nepotism and party employment within the public sector.

At the session, Kafedžić also presented the new analytical software, donated by the US Embassy, which has recently been implemented in the Office. The new software will enable, among other things, the monitoring of political and business connections of public office holders in the Sarajevo Canton in order to identify any potential irregularities in their work. The intention is to extend these activities to all employees in the public sector, it was emphasized.