The Commissioner of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption has criticised some young Public Servants for “engaging in devious acts”.
Speaking at the annual Young Leaders Seminar, Rashmi Aslam said that when the Commission was established in 2007 the understanding was that it would target long-serving Public Servants who had learned how to manipulate the system.
“Today we see that was a misconception as we have noticed a number of young people are involved in corruption-related activities which are as prevalent now as they were 15 years ago,” Mr Aslam (pictured) said.
“The most common cases include fraud, bribery, obtaining financial advantage and abuse of authority.”
Mr Aslam said that in the recent past, the Commission had witnessed some of the biggest personalities in Fiji’s society caught out because of a lack of integrity, bringing shame to themselves, their families and the people who followed them.
“It is the responsibility of the Commission to protect the future of the country from those who would seek to use their position to undermine it,” Mr Aslam said.
“When the future generation take up important roles in society, the nation has to have a generation of leaders who are ready to lead with integrity.”
He told seminar participants that as young leaders they were the invaluable asset of this country and he hoped they would grow up as a generation that valued the principles of honesty and integrity.
“The objective of the seminar is to empower the future generation to build their personality with one of the most important values of humanity — integrity,” Mr Aslam said.
Fiji, 13 July 2022
