Home Affairs Ministry Plans Regional Head Remuneration to Curb Corruption
The Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) is currently formulating a remuneration scheme for regional heads as a strategic measure to curb corrupt practices. The formulation includes several options, ranging from increasing the levy collection ceiling and additional operational costs to regulating incentives from Regional-Owned Enterprises (BUMD).
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (Wamendagri) Bima Arya Sugiarto explained that although the remuneration for regional heads is being developed, it is not the sole solution for eradicating corruption at the regional level. “There are many options, but we believe remuneration is not the only one, because there are also many prosperous regions with wealthy regional heads who still get entangled in corruption,” Bima Arya said while attending the National Conference of the Association of Indonesian Provincial Governments (APPSI) in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Thursday (16/7).
Bima emphasised that anti-corruption efforts must be carried out comprehensively by strengthening integrity, encompassing aspects from prevention to firm prosecution. The Ministry of Home Affairs has noted a worrying trend regarding the integrity of regional leaders. Since the inauguration of regional heads resulting from the 2024 Simultaneous Regional Elections in February 2025 up to July 2026, 17 regional heads have already been implicated in cases by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) through sting operations.
Bima Arya admitted his party is deeply concerned by these figures. “Initially, when one or two officials were arrested, we were concerned and angry. But when it reaches 17 people, can we still just talk about being concerned? We are at a loss for words,” he said. Historically, since 2005, the Ministry of Home Affairs has recorded 46 provincial-level regional heads entangled in corruption cases, consisting of 39 governors and seven deputy governors. Bima added that the number of district and city-level heads caught in similar cases is far higher.
In the forum, the Ministry of Home Affairs urged all levels of regional government to have a strong commitment from upstream to downstream to stop the increase in corruption cases. “Let us all strive together to stop these numbers from growing. We believe everyone must have a commitment from upstream to downstream,” Bima asserted. As a follow-up measure, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated it remains open to communication for regional heads to convey various obstacles in governance, hoping to strengthen clean, transparent, and high-integrity governance across Indonesia.