By The Leskovac Herald Investigation Team
Leskovac, Eastoria –In the quiet corridors of county administration buildings across Eastoria, a different kind of power is being exercised—not through legislation, but through silence.
An exclusive six-month investigation by The Leskovac Herald has uncovered disturbing patterns of corruption in the award and execution of county-level infrastructure and procurement contracts. Whistleblowers, internal memos, leaked bid documents, and audit reports all point to a systemic abuse of public trust that has cost taxpayers an estimated €1.3 billion over the past decade.
The Herald’s investigation reviewed 92 procurement contracts across 11 counties between 2017 and 2024. The findings show consistent inflation of costs by 20% to 45% on road, housing, and ICT projects. Over 90% of contracts were awarded to firms owned or operated by individuals with ties to county commissioners, family members, or major party donors. In several counties—particularly in Veridia, Beitbridge, and Norbotten—contracted projects were either never completed or finished years past deadline despite full payment.
One leaked memo from a regional auditor in Veridia, dated March 2023, warned the County Assembly of “severe discrepancies in tendering procedures.” That memo was never tabled. The auditor was quietly transferred six weeks later.
"Every time I tried to raise an alarm, I was told to 'cooperate or relocate,'" says one former senior procurement officer in Beitbridge, speaking under condition of anonymity. “The truth is everyone knows what’s going on. No one wants to be the one who ruins the party.”
Their sentiment is echoed by civil society watchdogs, who say fear of retaliation keeps honest officers and contractors from stepping forward.
Asked for comment, Minister of Justice Louis Leitner (LDP) said: “We take these revelations seriously. I have instructed the Anti-Corruption Office to open formal inquiries into all counties flagged in the report. There will be no sacred cows.”
But many remain skeptical. Despite past promises of accountability, not a single senior official has been successfully prosecuted for procurement corruption in over eight years. According to governance analyst Eva Zollner, the issue isn’t just theft—it’s the normalization of theft. “You don’t need to be in the federal government to be corrupt anymore,” she says. “Counties have become miniature fiefdoms where budget allocations are treated like private equity.”
The lack of independent county oversight mechanisms, weak enforcement of procurement transparency laws, and cozy relationships between county executives and regional legislatures have all contributed to this rot. For Eastorians like Samuel Bischoff, a schoolteacher in a rural village in North Dordrecht, the consequences are painfully real. “We were promised a new school. The county signed the contract. The company came, laid a foundation, and disappeared. That was three years ago,” he said. “Now our children study under trees. But the official who approved that contract drives a brand-new car.”
There are calls in the National Assembly—especially from SDP and ECP lawmakers—for the creation of a County Contracts Oversight Commission with full subpoena powers. Others are demanding that the Office of the President exercise greater executive supervision over county disbursements and that regional governors be compelled to release quarterly transparency reports. But as one senior official at the Ministry of Finance put it bluntly: “Unless someone is arrested and prosecuted—publicly—nothing will change. Not in this system. Not in this political climate.”
Silence has become a currency of survival in Eastoria’s public sector. But the longer it is traded, the more expensive it becomes—for our economy, our institutions, and our democracy. Accountability must become louder than complicity.
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