Maravi

Corruption is visible in Rupiah’s govt

Corruption is visible in Rupiah’s govt
By The Post
Mon 28 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT

Corruption and its many manifestations is a serious threat to the wellbeing of any nation. We have to agree with Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Committee board chairperson Beatrice Grillo when she says that the poor are getting poorer in Zambia because there is no political will to fight corruption.

It is easy to be tempted into thinking that corruption is a benign criminal offence that does not harm anyone. It is sometimes said that corruption is a victimless crime. But this cannot be farther from the truth. Far from being victimless, corruption consigns many societies, including our own, into a spiral of continuous poverty for the majority whilst benefitting a kleptocratic clique that holds sway over power. This is the problem that many African governments suffer from and ours is not an exception.

Indeed a society that thinks that corruption is not a problem soon finds itself overrun by all sorts of vices that render civilised existence a near impossibility. We say this because corruption is to crime what a dirty environment is to disease. We all know that diseases thrive in a dirty environment. This is why we are taught from an early, early stage in our lives to prioritise cleanliness. Others have even said that cleanliness is next to godliness. A dirty environment almost invariably leads to all kinds of diseases. A clean environment on the other hand tends to protect us from some types of diseases. This analogy can easily be applied to corruption and other forms of crime, including violent crimes. A corrupt environment is suitable for the development of all types of criminal conduct. Societies are destroyed because of corruption. A little bribe here and another one there allows criminals to go scot-free.

It is not only crime that thrives in a corrupt environment. But all kinds of social deprivation is made possible because of corruption. Leaders who are supposed to be paying attention to the needs of the people that they claim to lead are more interested in lining their pockets rather than meeting the needs of the people. These issues require no disquisition in our society. Our people know the ills of corruption. But why must we continue to talk about corruption?
Today, we have a government that seems to think that corruption is not a problem at all. If anything, Rupiah Banda and those closest to him have embraced corruption and the corrupt as a means of maintaining their grip on power. It is said that those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat the mistakes of history. Rupiah took over from Levy Mwanawasa, a president who made sincere efforts to fight corruption in our country. Instead of continuing where Levy left off, Rupiah’s preoccupation seems to be reversing all the gains that Levy ever scored in the fight against corruption.

Our people must begin to demand more accountability on this matter from Rupiah.

We say this because Rupiah’s embracing of corruption is a danger not only to himself but to all of us. Today we read of countries where law and order has collapsed completely. Criminal elements have taken over and corruption is what rules. We do not think that the problems of drug trafficking, for instance, that have wreaked havoc in South America could have gotten to their current levels without a facilitating corrupt environment.

The same can be said about the mayhem that we are observing in North Africa and parts of the Middle East. None of these regimes can be said to have been democratic and run on an honest basis.

We all know of Hosni Mubarak’s corruption and that of his family and close friends. It’s also not a secret that Muammar Gadaffi ran Libya's resources as if they were personal property. It is common knowledge that poor African presidents have received briefcases of dollars from Gadaffi for all sorts of things, including for their election campaigns.

It will not be surprising that with what is going on now in Libya, one day questions will be raised on how Libya’s Lapgreen managed to take over Zambia’s Zamtel.

Did somebody receive a briefcase of dollars whilst sitting in an aeroplane in Tripoli? These are issues that one day may be discussed. Corruption and its offshoots of abuse of power, and in some instances blatant theft of public resources has robbed citizens of these countries of the ability to trust their governments. The governance systems in those countries have collapsed.

There are people in North Africa who, like the little thief we have here Frederick Chiluba, thought that they could run the lives of their citizens forever. They thought they could dribble their way around the wishes of the people. But where has it left them today? Chiluba spent most of his time at State House counting money stolen from Zanaco and bribes from all sorts of characters masquerading as well-wishers.

Well-wishers for what? It is possible that the same characters are visiting Rupiah today with bribes, clothed under the cloak of donations and gifts. What donations? What gifts? For what? Soon, Rupiah may start spending most of his time counting money from Nkhwazi house instead of being in the office doing serious public work for which he was elected.

Corruption and its benefits have the tendency of blinding those who engage in it. As we have seen with what is happening in North Africa, most of those corrupt regimes lost orientation, lost their bearings. They even forgot the simple principle that what belonged to the public did not belong to them.

They forgot that the power that they wielded was there to benefit the people. It is not surprising that many of them started thinking that their leadership office was family property which they can pass to their children at will and a vessel for them to use to receive donations, or rather bribes, from all sorts of con men masquerading as investors. And this trend is easy to observe as it develops. All that one needs to do is look at the type of people who frequent State House, the type of people who want to surround the President and his ministers, the type of characters who have suddenly become friends of his children.

Corruption is actually visible; one can easily see it. It was interesting to observe the types of characters that turned up at Rupiah’s MMD card renewal exercise at Mulungushi International Conference Centre last Saturday.

There were all types of people who did not look like ordinary members of the MMD. The main floor of Mulungushi Hall was mostly taken up by these characters. Looking at the people that went there, one would not be too far from the truth if he mistook the gathering for a tender opening ceremony of the Zambia Public Procurement Authority.

There were all types of dealers there. Almost every race was represented. It was a rainbow of dealers. The question is: what were they looking for? Who are they and who invited them there? And for what?

It is clear that the problem that the South Africans have started calling tenderpreneuring is alive and well in Zambia. All sorts of crooks are jostling for access to Rupiah and his government. For what? What are they giving in return for that access? This is why we say that corruption is actually visible. At least the environment in which it thrives is very visible.

Grillo is right when she complains that corruption is endemic. She is also right when she observes that Rupiah and his government are only paying lip service to fighting corruption. They have no intention to actually fight corruption. They have made sure that the institutions that are supposed to fight corruption are emasculated and too scared to do their job. But Rupiah should not fool himself. He will not get away with this. Let him learn from his friends in North Africa.

Labels: CORRUPTION, MMD, NGOCC, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 11:15 AM