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The Kathmandu Post

Publication Date : 01-03-2013

Nepal's Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has urged anti-corruption campaigners to end their fast-unto-death, assuring speedy investigation and legal charges against those accused of misusing funds meant for local development. The anti-graft body claimed that complications in the corruption cases in the district of Mahottari in Nepal's central region raised by the campaigners led to investigations taking a longer time.

In a statement on Thursday, the CIAA said that corruption is a serious social crime which is impossible to control with isolated efforts. “We require collective support from anti-corruption campaigners, the private sector and civil society to fight against corruption,” read the statement.

However, the anti-corruption campaigners said that they are unaware of the CIAA's assurances. “We will continue our fast anyway,” said Sharada Bhusal, who is leading the campaign. Bhusal, along with anti-graft activists Shyam Lal Sah, Sangita Thapa and Binod Mandal, all of whom were displaced from Mahottari for speaking out against corruption in local bodies in the district, initiated a fast-unto-death in the Capital after they were arrested while preparing to stage a protest in front of the CIAA last Friday.

Bhusal accused the CIAA of holding back corruption cases without investigation. “Even constitutional bodies like the CIAA are corrupt. It is dragging its feet on thousands of registered corruption cases,” said Bhusal.

Thursday was the seventh day of the fast, with Bhusal's health rapidly deteriorating. Recent medical tests on Bhusal showed decreasing blood pressure and low glucose levels.