Corruption= monopoly of power+too much discretion-(accountability+transparency+integrity)

The above is a simple formula to understand why corruption occurs in the public sector. Corruption like theft is a crime of opportunity. You increase the opportunity for corruption, then corruption will likely to occur in your department. On the other hand, if you increase the risks of getting caught in other words reduce its opportunity then the risks of corruption will likely to decrease as well. Consider this, if you leave a $100 dollar bill on the table of an empty room and leave it there unattended, you can bet the money will most likely get stolen. This is because the risk of the thief getting caught is almost nil. So the opportunity to steal gets bigger. If you dont believe me try to slip a $100 bill under the wiper of your car screen and park your car in Gadong overnight! But if the same room is provided with cctvs or entry to the room is recorded then your $100 bill will mostly likely be returned as the risks of getting caught become higher. Corruption is very much like theft. To reduce it we must increase the risks of getting caught. This is where strengthening the institutional mechanisms and procedures that enhance good governance shall become our number one priority in order to fight public sector corruption and other forms of malfeasance. I have seen too many occassions that poor governance does contribute to higher risks of corruption or abuse of funds. That is why I once said that corruption is not just about bad people but it can also be because of bad governance. The lack of check and balances in the collection of funds or in the award of tenders are amongst those that I have come to deal with. Consider this real case of the hospital staff accused of stealing the patients' registration fees. The court had to acquit those charged simply because the prosecution failed to prove how much each staff stole as it became apparent during the course of the trial, there was no control on who had access to the drawer in where the monies were kept!
So really if a department has someone who can exercise a full monopoly of power with absolute discretion in the exercise of it coupled with the lack of ATI (accountability, transparency and integrity), no matter what the organisation or department is and believe me in whateever Ministry it is, there will be corruption or other forms of misuse of funds!