The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) held a successful outreach event in Kayangel State on Friday, November 15, 2019. The trip’s purpose was to introduce the office of the OSP to the citizens of Kayangel, examine forms of corruption and its impact on good governance and the people of Palau, and discuss laws surrounding ethics and elections.
Approximately 23 residents of Kayangel attended the meeting held from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm in the summer house at the port. During the meeting, questions were asked and answered by presenters and attendees alike with interactive discussions. The OSP handed out its office decal, “Take a Bite Out of Corruption,” which includes the OSP website and contact information for the OSP. The OSP website was discussed with attendees to explain its content including the laws, current and past OSP cases, and most importantly, how to submit online complaints with the complainant’s name or anonymously. We were thanked for “opening the eyes” of the people in Kayangel to corruption.
The OSP team returned from Kayangel on Sunday morning giving Kayangel citizens an opportunity to approach individual OSP members over the weekend with their questions and discuss reporting possible cases of government corruption. Fighting corruption takes effort and courage from all of us, and we thank the Governor and citizens of Kayangel for giving us the opportunity to work closely with them in this endeavour.