Home Minister Reveals Anti-Corruption Strategy for Regional Governments Through Integrity System
Home Minister (Mendagri) Muhammad Tito Karnavian explained that efforts to prevent criminal acts of corruption involving regional heads cannot rely solely on oversight functions. According to him, strengthening the governance system and the integrity of regional heads is key to preventing corrupt practices.
“What we can do for these regional heads is, one, we conduct a retreat. The goal is to strengthen their nationalism, their integrity. Then we also provide initial briefings, including having the KPK present. BPKP also attends to provide input,” said Tito in a statement on Thursday (16/7/2026).
He made these remarks following a working meeting and hearing with Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) at the Parliamentary Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (16/7).
However, Tito stressed that the position of a regional head differs from officials within a command system because they are directly elected by the people. Therefore, guidance places greater emphasis on strengthening the system.
He explained that the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) has developed various oversight instruments, including the Regional Government Information System (SIPD), guidelines for the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD), and a regional financial supervision system.
In addition, the government, together with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Attorney General’s Office, is also developing a corruption prevention system through Monitoring, Controlling, Surveillance for Prevention (MCSP). Despite this, he cautioned that no matter how good the system is, it can still be manipulated on the ground.
“But all these systems can still be circumvented in the field. There is gratification and so on. So, this comes back to the integrity of each regional head,” Tito continued.
On the occasion, Tito also highlighted the issue of high political costs in regional head elections, which often becomes a crucial problem. He stated that this condition needs to be addressed with breakthroughs, one of which is a proposal to increase the operational funding for regional heads based on a percentage of the increase in Local Own-Source Revenue (PAD). This way, regional heads would have an incentive to improve the region’s fiscal performance without burdening the public.
“But this needs to be studied first. There needs to be inter-ministerial and inter-agency discussions within the government, and if necessary, discussions with the DPR. Because this is an important decision,” he concluded.