Government Strategies: The Inter-American Convention Against Corruption provides a relatively comprehensive international framework for fighting corruption. The Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) reviews whether states are introducing effective measures to fight corruption in line with the convention. This imposes direct obligations on the Government of Nicaragua to adopt institutional and legal measures against corruption. Read more at the MESICIC's 2010 report on Nicaragua. Nicaragua has signed the Compact to Promote Transparency and Combat Corruption, which has resaulted in the G8 countries providing technical assistance to Nicaragua to improve public budgets and financial management. The compact defines six laws as 'priority legislative agenda items' for the government that, if successful, would have significant impacts. First, the Public Service Ethics Law will govern the ethics of public employees during their term in office and will require that civil servants declare their assets before assuming office. Second, the Judicial Career Law will ensure a merit-based, competitive and transparent process for selecting judicial officials, as well as provide for disciplinary sanctions. Third, the Reforms to the State's Contracting Law will make government procurement more cost-efficient and transparent. Fourth, the Fiscal Responsibility Law will seek to limit public debt to levels that are prudent and compatible with tax revenues and public assets, adopt a stable and predictable tax policy, establish a multi-year budgetary planning framework, adopt international public sector accounting standards, and create a fiscal stabilisation fund. Fifth, the Public Sector Financial Management Law will aim at establishing standards to regulate and coordinate the financial management system. Lastly, the Freedom of Information Law will include the right of citizens to access information about government officials and private companies that perform public functions (e.g., water and energy companies). For further information, read the compact between G8 and the Government of Nicaragua. 

Anti-Corruption Agencies: The Oficina de Ética Pública (Public Ethics Office, OEP, in Spanish) was established to promote transparency and efficiency in public administration. The mandate of the OEP derives from the executive authority of the president. The office also administers the Programa de Eficiencia y Transparencia en las Compras y Contrataciones del Estado (Efficiency and Transparency in Public Procurement and Contracting Programme). Donors have confidence in the OEP, and the office is implementing and providing follow-ups in Nicaragua to the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption. According to MESICIC's 2010 report, the OEP has in the past carried out a total of 86 specialised training events for public servants from 43 agencies of the executive branch and local governments. According to the ITAD's Nicaragua Country Report 2011, the OEP has been given little political and financial support. Furthermore, the OEP does not have the authority to carry out investigations nor prosecution.

Procuraduría General de la República (PGR, in Spanish): The PGR (Attorney General's Office) and Controller General share responsibilities for investigating and prosecuting corruption cases, according to the US Department of State 2013. The PGR is, together with the Oficina de Ética Pública, in charge of implementing the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption, as well as formulating national anti-corruption strategies and priorities. Furthermore, the PGR has an online complaint mechanism on its website where citizens can file complaints of inappropriate behaviour by civil servants. Global Integrity 2011 evaluates the real independence of the institution as non-existent and states that political influence ranges from the appointment of affiliates to the ruling party to pressure to waive investigation in particular cases. Read more about the Procuraduría's priorities in the fight against corruption (in Spanish) and the PGR's Strategic Plan 2011-2014 (in Spanish).

Contraloría General de la República (in Spanish): The Contraloría General de la República (Comptroller's Office) is a formally independent entity who's Consejo Superior (High Council) is elected by the National Assembly. The unit is the primary watchdog for control of the public administration and undertakes financial audits of public institutions. The office has a mandate to initiate independent investigations, but it rarely uses this power. According to the ITAD's Nicaragua Country Report 2011, the Comptroller's Office is constitutionally independent and is mandated to investigate and refer cases of corruption. However, Global Integrity 2011 reports that in practice, like other agencies, the Comptroller's Office is subject to political influence. Partisan loyalties and friendships, and influences within a political party, rather than merit, play major roles in the appointment to the office. The work of the Comptroller's Office is also hampered by President Ortega's government managing two budgets: the official, legally approved budget and a budget with funds from Venezuela as a part of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) agreement. The latter budget is administered according to the executive's discretion and is not subject to review.

Ombudsman's Office: The Ombudsman Law 212 (in Spanish) creates an independent Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (PDDH, in Spanish), which functions as the national ombudsman in Nicaragua. However, according to Global Integrity 2011, the ombudsman is under strong political influence. It does not have authority to initiate investigations unless a case does not involve politics, and selective investigations are common. This is further supported by Freedom House 2012, which reports that the official ombudsman, as well as the PDDH, continue to be highly politicised. Moreover, the ombudsman’s office does not receive regular funding, and foreign donors have withdrawn their aid due to its lack of independence and professionalism. Citizens are not able to access specific reports except annual global reports and statistics: the law stipulates that only affected parties are allowed to access these reports. Hence, Global Integrity 2011 assesses the ombudsman’s office in Nicaragua as ‘very weak’.

E-Governance: E-governance is still developing in Nicaragua, and a commission, the Comisión para el Foro Permanente de Gobierno Electrónico(GOBeNIC), has been established to take responsibility for developing and implementing plans for e-governance in the country. The Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade operates the Ventanilla Unica de Inversiones (in Spanish), a one-stop shop that provides investment and business licencing information to foreign and domestic investors. The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (in Spanish) operates an online portal for central government and municipality procurement (see below). Furthermore, two non-profit, public-private institutions host websites that provide relevant information to foreign investors. The first one is ProNicaragua, the Nicaraguan Investment Promotion Agency, through which investors can find useful information on investment opportunities, commercial partners and commercial dispute resolution. The second, the Export Promotion Centre (CEI), provides relevant information for exporters.

Public Procurement: Nicaragua's public procurement law criminalises discrimination among suppliers and requires that government contracts be advertised on the internet and in national newspapers. The Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR, in Spanish) sets up rules to ensure the fairness and transparency in procurement procedures. Procurement procedures, such as open bidding and qualified bidding, are detailed in the Government Procurement Law (in Spanish) and the Municipal Procurement Law (in Spanish). The Municipal Procurement Law gives municipalities autonomy in acquisition procedures and the freedom to decide whether to offer a tender for the purchase of goods and services. However, procurements between municipalities or with state institutions are excluded from the Municipal Procurement Law since they are covered by the Government Procurement Law. According to Global Integrity 2011, competitive bidding is required for tenders when a contract is over NIC 3 million, and selective bidding is allowed for a contract worth between NIC 500,000 and NIC 3 million. According to the US Department of State 2013, the Government Procurement Law was amended to eliminate many ambiguities that allowed favouritism and unfair competition. However, there are still many allegations of irregularities in the procurement process, especially the splitting of procurements into smaller lots, an action which allows the government to use a different set of regulations that creates a less competitive bidding process. The same report suggests that political connections and nepotism affect regulatory and procurement decisions. The government has established the Sistema de Contrataciones Administrativas del Estado (SISCAE), a portal for public contracts through which investors may register, obtain information and bid on public contracts. Global Integrity 2011 assesses the procurement system in Nicaragua as being ‘strong’.

Whistleblowing: The Office for Complaints of Corruption handles citizen corruption complaints, financial fraud and other offences that are against the state. However, according to Global Integrity 2011, the results have been meagre and the office rarely receives complaints. It is widely believed that the low number of reports can be traced back to the insufficient protection of whistleblowers in Nicaragua. No specific whistleblower protection law is in place, and such protection is not offered by other legislation. Global Integrity 2011 assesses whistleblowing measures in Nicaragua as being 'very weak'.