Maravi

Levy is running a corrupt govt

Levy is running a corrupt govt
By Editor
Thursday November 15, 2007 [03:00]

It is very clear that the work and reports of the Auditor General are not being taken seriously by those in power and in our politics. Even the citizens of our country, including those in civil society organisations, don’t really seem to be much bothered by this apparent lack of accountability in public institutions.

The observations made by our Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee chairman Charles Milupi are frightening. Honourable Milupi says the continued misappropriation of public funds is becoming an ‘offensive stench’. And on Tuesday he told Parliament that K26.6 billion was misappropriated and misapplied in 19 public institutions that were audited by the Auditor General for the year ended December 31, 2005.

When people in government fail to do their jobs properly, we can expect needless harm, injustice and waste of public money. Holding to account is a powerful lever to cause those in government to act diligently in public interest, but we don’t seem to be using it effectively, that is if we are using it at all. It means exacting and validating public explanations we need from those in government that help us to make sensible decisions as citizens – including what trust to place in those running government institutions.

If we don’t trust these people, the people running our government institutions, society will not work properly.

There is no way K112 billion can be wasted on the Mongu–Kalabo road, leaving nothing to show, and no one is held accountable or is brought to book for such gross wastage of public funds. There is no way US $1 million can be lost on the Mbesuma bridge without anyone being held accountable and prosecuted. This type of impunity if not addressed will become a permanent fetter on the development of this country.

There is no way we are going to make progress as a nation if public funds are not managed and used in an efficient, effective and orderly manner. It will not be possible to achieve our developmental goals and lift the masses of our people from abject poverty, disease and ignorance without changing the way we manage public resources and affairs.

What the Auditor General’s reports reveal every year is nothing but a tip of the iceberg as far as misapplication and misappropriation of public funds is concerned. There is prima facie evidence to show that levels of corruption in the public service have not gone down.

Civil servants and public workers are still among the richest of our citizens today. Most of the large and expensive buildings in and farms around Lusaka and other centres are owned by these same people. We all know very well the salaries of civil servants and other public workers because they are gazetted.

Well there have been attempts by some corrupt politicians to explain this through travel allowances. But even these travel allowances, there is something corrupt about them – they are not legitimate expenses of government. A close scrutiny of these travel allowances will reveal that in most cases they are not necessary and in others they are excessive.

Our government’s procurement system also leaves much to be desired and is inherently corrupt. We cannot continue to have a country where citizens cannot account for what they have and expect to have high levels of accountability in the nation.

Every year the Auditor General’s report reveals high levels of misapplication and misappropriation of public funds but no one hears of the prosecutions that are supposed to accompany them. Why? Has it become an acceptable way of conducting government business and public affairs?

Look at the damage this is causing to the human condition in our country! How can someone be allowed to misappropriate billions of kwacha that were meant for restocking of cattle in Southern Province and go scot-free? We have not heard of anyone being prosecuted for stealing this money. Why? How can our police, which is so much in need of cash, lose such huge sums of money without anyone being prosecuted?

When Transparency International produce figures or statistics indicating that corruption has not gone down in Zambia, those in government quickly start denouncing them. The truth is that corruption has not gone down in Zambia. What has probably happened is that the current President may himself not be involved in stealing public funds like his predecessor did. But this in itself doesn’t mean that corruption in government has accordingly reduced.

There is need to take a critical look at the operations of government. The cost of running our government is too high due to misapplication and misappropriation of funds. For instance, a project that would cost government US $1 million will not be completed for less than US $10 million or $15 million because of misapplication and misappropriation of public funds. There is very little that can be accomplished by any government under such corrupt circumstances. We need, as a nation, to seriously address this issue in public institutions.

It cannot be denied that President Levy Mwanawasa is running a corrupt government. And to run a corrupt government does not necessarily mean that Levy himself has to be corrupt. We have no evidence whatsoever to accuse Levy of being corrupt. But there is abundant evidence coming from the Auditor General and publicised by the Public Accounts Committee showing very high levels of misapplications and misappropriations of public funds.

What does this amount to? It amounts to very high levels of corruption in government. It amounts to Levy running a corrupt government. There is very little that has been done to stop corruption in public institutions. The example Levy might have set of he himself not being involved in corruption is not enough; it is simply an example. But we know that examples by themselves do not solve problems of this nature, they have to be accompanied by concrete measures and practices.

The buck for all this corruption in government stops at Levy. The only way he can absolve himself from all this is by making sure government business and affairs are conducted with effective and efficient controls and those who are found wanting are prosecuted. This is not happening. Impunity is still the order of the day.

And this explains why public servants are not scared of stealing because they know that they will lose nothing – they will keep their jobs and their loot; if they happen to lose their jobs, they will at least keep their ill-gotten wealth. This is not the way to run government; this is not the way to run public institutions and affairs.

Those who are tasked to manage and use other people’s money have an inherent duty to account – accountability should be an inevitable consequence of being an agent of the people, a servant of the people. Levy, as a servant and agent of our people, should be made to account for all this money that is being misapplied and misappropriated by people working under him or for him.

He can’t run away from this responsibility because it is his duty to ensure that public funds are used in an efficient, effective and orderly manner. Failure to do so is tantamount to him failing to do his job as head of state and government. This is what it means to tolerate the misapplication and misappropriation of public funds.

Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION, MWANAWASA

posted by MrK @ 8:12 AM