More than USD 15 million has been spent to administer the Commission on Disappearances and Deaths (DDCom) and the Corruption and Asset Recovery Commission, according to the President’s Office.
Following a request from a private citizen under the constitution’s right to information, the President’s Office disclosed the amount spent on the two commissions since their inception.
The members of the DDCom have received a total of MVR 4.7 million in salaries over the last four years, according to the President’s Office, with the commission spending a total of MVR 5.4 million on pay and other expenditures.
The President’s Office said MVR 9.1 million was spent as salaries for the members of the Asset Recovery Commission, with a total of MVR 9.9 million spent on the commission for other costs and salaries during the previous four years.
The two commissions were established to investigate the disappearance of journalist Ahmed Rilwan and the massive MMPRC corruption scandal, which were two of the current administration’s primary campaign pledges.
Despite spending such a huge cost to operate the commissions, the public was dissatisfied with the two commissions’ failure to produce any significant results.
