Less than 24 hours after Sushil Koirala was elected Prime Minister to head a coalition government with the UML, the fight for the Home Minsitry has disrupted the proceedings in the parliament. The fact that the local elections may be taking place sometime soon makes Home Ministry the most sought after office, as the party running it has unparalleled advantages of controlling and mobilizing the bureaucracy and security forces.
Whichever party heads the HM also has a greater influence over sensitive matters like border issues and mobilising security forces. With China’s growing concern over the movement of Tibetan refugees and anti-China protests in Nepal and India worried about terrorism networks spreading across the border, Nepal’s neighbours also feel they are stakeholders.
Besides this, HM plays a crucial role in the transfer and appointment of security personnel and people spend millions in bribe to influence the administrators’ decisions. Promoted officers then return the favour during election and party conventions. Close to 2,000 people from Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Intelligence unit are directly deployed by the Home Ministry.
Given the vast amount of resources at the ministry’s disposal, the Home Minister can easily embezzle from the financial assistance fund and intelligence fund. According to a source at the Home Ministry, the budget allocated for intelligence mobilisation is audited only by a high level officer selected by the Office of the Auditor General.
Intelligence mobilisation alone receives more a Rs 10 million budget each year. In 2006, millions were siphoned off during the purchase of armoured personnel carriers (APC) for the Nepali peacekeeping mission in Sudan. This is only one example of how the Home Ministry can be a hotbed of financial irregularity.