Nizahah heads to Saudi Arabia to study one of the leading anti-corruption and asset recovery models - Sarmad
Dr. Rana Al-Faris, Chairperson of the Public Authority for Combating Corruption (Nizahat), led the Nizahat delegation during an official visit to Riyadh, accompanied by Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Majad Al-Daihani, Board Member Dhiya Al-Otaibi, Assistant Secretary-General for the Corruption Detection and Investigation Sector Fawaz Al-Mutairi, and International Cooperation Department Representative Abdulrahman Al-Wazan. The visit was conducted under the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two authorities in 2022, aiming to further activate this agreement and translate institutional cooperation into practical exchanges of expertise and experiences.
Nizahat’s visit to Saudi Arabia’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACAC) aligns with its strategy to enhance cooperation with peer institutions and learn from advanced regional and international experiences in combating corruption. The delegation seeks to benefit from models that have achieved tangible results in oversight, investigation, prosecution of corruption cases, asset recovery, and protection of public funds.
Dr. Al-Faris emphasized that the visit by Saudi Arabia’s NACAC reflects Nizahat’s commitment to strengthening ties with peer institutions and leveraging advanced anti-corruption experiences. This initiative stems from a desire to study one of the most prominent regional models in combating corruption, particularly its robust approach to oversight, investigation, accountability, asset recovery, and protection of public funds.
She noted that the Saudi experience has yielded notable results in combating corruption, including the recovery of funds and assets, alongside accumulated institutional and practical expertise in prosecuting corruption cases, enhancing oversight, and safeguarding public wealth.
Dr. Al-Faris stated, “We look forward to benefiting from experiences that have proven their ability to deliver practical results in combating corruption, transitioning from merely identifying vulnerabilities and suspicions to adopting more effective tools for detection, investigation, accountability, protection of public funds, and asset recovery.”
She stressed that combating corruption extends beyond prevention and awareness; it requires a comprehensive system equipped with the necessary tools and capacities for detection, investigation, accountability, as well as prevention, integrity promotion, and transparency. This makes exchanging expertise with peer institutions that possess advanced experiences a crucial component in developing institutional and technical capabilities.
For his part, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Majad Al-Daihani affirmed that the visit aims to build upon successful experiences and practices, leveraging them practically to develop Nizahat’s oversight tools and enhance its institutional and technical capacities.
Dr. Al-Daihani clarified that benefiting from advanced experiences does not imply copying them verbatim, but rather studying their tools, practices, and outcomes, and adapting those suitable to Kuwait’s legislative and institutional environment. He emphasized that knowledge and expertise exchange with peer institutions constitutes an important pathway for developing the anti-corruption system and enhancing its capacity to protect public funds.
The visit included reviewing the Saudi experience and the operational mechanisms employed by NACAC, as well as presenting the most prominent institutional experiences and practices of both parties. Discussions also covered several files of mutual interest in the fields of oversight, investigation, and corruption prevention, mechanisms for handling financial and administrative corruption cases and asset recovery, and the development of institutional and technical tools supporting anti-corruption efforts.
Al-Faris emphasized that “Nizahat” looks forward to this visit marking the beginning of a broader path of practical cooperation with Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), building on the existing memorandum of understanding between the two sides and transforming it into more effective cooperation channels, thereby enabling mutual benefit from expertise and experiences.
Al-Dihani added that the coming phase will see the Authority keen on expanding its circle of cooperation with peer bodies, and learning from the best regional and international experiences and practices, which will contribute to developing the Authority’s tools and capacities and enhancing its effectiveness in preventing and combating corruption.
The visit comes as an extension of the entrenched fraternal relations between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and within the framework of institutional cooperation between the two authorities under the memorandum of understanding signed in 2022, thereby strengthening joint coordination and the exchange of knowledge and expertise in the fields of integrity, oversight, and anti-corruption.
