Iraq’s anti-corruption commission announced last week that it had arrested the former governor of Ninevah province, Nawfel Akoub, who was accused of embezzling millions of dollars from government coffers, including aid for people displaced by the Islamic State.

Akoub’s case highlights the efforts of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to rein in corruption amid resistance from entrenched parties and elites, popular street demonstrations and violence from foreign-backed militias.  

“The only way to tackle corruption in Iraq is by scratching the surface,” said Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “There is no silver bullet. You can be doing the most that is possible to do and you’re still just scratching the surface.”

A major boat accident near Mosul is what initially sank Akoub. In March of 2019, a ferryboat capsized in the Tigris River that killed more than 100 people. As the governor of the region, Akoub was accused of negligence. A request by then-Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to immediately dismiss the governor was approved by Iraq’s parliament.