A plenary session of the House of Representatives unanimously approved the text of a statute that aims to cut Colombia’s political corruption, newspaper El Espectador reported Tuesday.
The proposed Anti-Corruption Statute seeks to seal shut the “revolving door” between the public and private sector by prohibiting those who finance political campaigns from being contractors for the state.
In response to the recent health care corruption scandal, the new statute will establish a combination of administrative and judicial measures to protect health care resources, including an information system to report suspicious activities and harsher criminal penalties for those who steal from the state health care fund.
In addition to stricter penalties for offenders from both the public and private sector, the new statute gives the president power to directly appoint the administrators of internal control in national institutions.
The Senate will review the text of the statute this week, after which it will be passed to President Juan Manuel Santos for executive approval.