The head of the Kurdish watchdog noted that they had also prepared a strategy with the help of a British agency to combat corruption in the Kurdistan Region, hoping the new cabinet approves it and adds their feedback to make it stronger and more effective.
“The insight of the strategy has key points that would considerably help the government’s reform agenda, should it be implemented,” Anwar added.
The Commission also stressed the need to dedicate a special court in the region to deal with graft.
“Having a special court dedicated for this matter will make the process of sentencing and combating corruption faster and will have an impact on officials who might think of corruption in the future,” he noted.
The watchdog also said it would send its application to the new KRG ministers and officials so they can reveal their income and finances to the commission following the confirmation of the new government’s cabinet.
According to Anwar, the commission had registered 231 corruption cases so far in the first half of the year, with a total of 495 cases under investigation, including incidents registered over the past few years.
He mentioned that in the first six months of 2019, after investigation, 72 of the cases had been sent to court to be ruled upon, 17 of which the courts had settled.
Anti-corruption efforts remain one of the primary calls from citizens in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
Over the past few years, senior Kurdish leaders have repeatedly stressed that combating corruption is no less important than the fight against the so-called Islamic State.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany