Two Factors Causing Regional Heads to Commit Corruption, According to Home Affairs Minister
Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian has observed the rising number of regional heads entangled in corruption cases. According to him, there are two factors that cause regional heads to commit corruption.
The first factor, he said, is the system and recruitment of regional heads. “The expensive regional election system makes regional heads, once elected, want to recover the money they have already spent,” he said when contacted on Sunday, 12 July 2026.
He assessed that the official salary and income received by regional heads are relatively small compared to the needs of these state officials. “So they seek additional income through corruption,” said the former National Police chief.
The second factor, Tito continued, is a greedy nature that affects the integrity of a regional head. This greed, he said, makes regional heads want to keep increasing their income, even through misappropriation.
He stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs is cooperating with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and several related institutions to mitigate corruption by regional heads. Tito said his ministry is also creating a digital system for regional government financial programmes to monitor and manage regional finances more transparently.
This is being done because the Ministry of Home Affairs acts as a supervisor of regional heads in accordance with applicable regulations. “However, we are not superiors with command authority like in the TNI and Polri organisations,” said Tito.
In the past month, three regional heads have been named suspects in alleged corruption cases. The three are Kuantan Singingi Regent Suhardiman Amby, Langkat Regent Syah Afandin, and most recently Sukoharjo Regent Etik Suryani.
Throughout the first seven months of 2026, ten regional heads have been implicated in corruption cases. More broadly, data from Indonesia Corruption Watch shows that 365 regional heads became corruption suspects between 2010 and 2024.
The modus operandi of regional head corruption, according to ICW’s findings, is dominated by the practice of buying and selling positions, as well as the misappropriation of regional government procurement projects for goods and services.