Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced a major shakeup of Uzbekistan’s campaign against corruption on Wednesday, ordering the dismissal of the heads of anti-corruption bodies in 117 ministries and departments and saying many officials had fostered mistrust by failing to deliver clean government as promised.
Mirziyoyev, who took office in 2016, described corruption as an obstacle to Uzbekistan’s efforts to reform its economy. He said that, while there had been progress toward transparency, virtually every sector in the nation, including the media, schoolteachers, non-governmental groups and neighborhood authorities, should mobilize alongside the state to fight the scourge.
“Corruption is such an evil that it undermines people’s trust in the state, the Constitution and laws, and becomes a serious threat to sustainable development and security,” Mirziyoyev said at a meeting of the National Anti-Corruption Council, which was established in 2020 to lead efforts to curb graft.
International groups that study corruption have long said that autocratic tendencies, opaque bureaucracy and weak justice systems in Central Asia make it hard for those countries to get a comprehensive grip on the problem and hold the powerful – regardless of their political allegiances – to account for any wrongdoing.
Even so, Kazakhstan has taken some notable steps, expanding its outreach to other countries in an effort to recover stolen assets and considering the establishment of a public register of officials convicted of corruption-related offenses.
Uzbekistan has similarly made advances, while falling short on enforcement and other pledges. A 2024 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development noted that prosecution of corruption offenses in Uzbekistan “is generally ensured, but more efforts should be directed at countering high-level corruption;” that there is no specialized legislation related to the protection of whistleblowers; and that while Uzbekistan has a business ombudsman institution, “companies do not report cases of corruption for fear of negative repercussions from the state.”
Mirziyoyev’s remarks, which included scathing criticism of the alleged passivity of some officials, appeared designed to give new momentum to the kind of openness that his government deems essential to a successful, diversified economy.
“The Prime Minister was instructed to dismiss the heads of the “internal anti-corruption control” structures in 117 ministries and departments and replace them with honest, dedicated and professional personnel, and to set clear tasks for them,” Sherzod Asadov, the presidential press secretary, said in an account of the meeting that he posted on Facebook. Ministers will directly employ regional compliance officers and “take political responsibility and personally answer for corruption in the entire system,” according to the account.
Uzbekistan’s Minister of Emergency Situations, Abdulla Kuldashev, was recently fired because of fire safety bureaucracy and legal violations, the president said. He also expressed frustration that he had to personally instruct measures against wasteful spending in investment and healthcare programs last year, resulting in the saving of several hundred million dollars.
“But why should these works begin after the president gives an order?” he said.
One measure that Uzbekistan previously introduced is an index that rates the openness of state agencies. In the 2023 index, the statistics agency scored highest and the regional administration of Andijan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan, was at the bottom.
Uzbekistan’s government has had an often fraught relationship with journalists and bloggers who say they fear persecution if they report on alleged wrongdoing by high-ranking officials or comment critically on sensitive issues. But the government appears to welcome a growing role for the media in calling attention to corruption.
“Previously, this topic was completely closed to journalists,” Asadov said on Facebook. “Currently, the current situation has completely changed in the direction of openness and transparency.”
