Government officials slated for positions with the new Anticorruption Unit, which according to the recently enacted Anticorruption Law must be formed by September, have completed a series of training courses to teach them how to implement the new law.
Eighty-three officials drawn from ministries including Justice, Interior and Finance took the courses on survey design, asset declaration, investigation, complaint mechanisms and case management over February and April. The training initiative was supported by the US development agency and carried out by the NGO Pact Cambodia.
In a speech at a ceremony marking the end of the courses, Kheang Seng, the head of the law enforcement section of the new unit, said the training had “taken the existing knowledge and insight on fighting corruption of the leadership and all officials of the Anticorruption Unit to the next level.”
Mr Seng also made a direct request to the US Agency International Development to provide more training courses and other technical and material support to the Anticorruption Unit.
In a speech at the event, USAID Mission Director Flynn Fuller said that the completion of the anticorruption law was “an important achievement,” but stressed that implementation of the law’s provisions would be a much more challenging task.
This “is a good start and has addressed some of the basic needs of the [anti-corruption unit] but it is only a beginning and there is more needed to build the capacity of the ACU as an effective anticorruption body,” he added.
Mr Fuller said USAID had already requested a meeting with Senior Minister Om Yentieng, the chairman of the Anticorruption Unit, to discuss the possibility of providing further aid.
