Maravi

Extend corruption fight to rural areas

Extend corruption fight to rural areas
By The Post
Sat 21 Jan. 2012, 20:00 CAT

Reverend Pukuta Mwanza, executive director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, says corruption must not be seen as being exclusively an urban problem; rather, it must now be seen as a national moral problem. It is true, corruption is everywhere in our country, including rural areas.

Of course, the nature and magnitude of corruption differs from area to area depending on many things, including the nature and level of resources available in each area.

And even rural areas where corruption may not be present, those areas are nevertheless still affected by corruption. It is a question of if not being infected by corruption, they are affected by corruption.

The enjoyment of the right to adequate standard of living in our country will require a search for viable means to end corruption, bearing in mind that the sources of corruption are both structural and personal.

It is not enough to say that corruption as a moral evil is rooted in the heart of human beings. When corruption is generalised at various social levels, we have to look at the structures that are causing it.

Rural areas are the most affected when it comes to corruption. This is where the people most affected by corruption, the poor, live.

The poor in our rural areas are exploited, are disadvantaged by the same people who are supposed to be their saviours. They are everyday being robbed of the meagre resources necessary for their wellbeing by the people they elected as their representatives. There are so many stories about members of parliament who have chewed, stolen, mismanaged, misused, misapplied Constituency Development Funds.

There are also many civil servants who have done deals that have resulted in poor roads, schools, clinics or health centres being constructed in our rural areas. This is because these public servants have stolen part of the money that was meant for these projects. We all know how the farmer input support programme has been abused by those managing it on behalf of our poor people.

There are so many stories about chiefs selling their people's land to all sorts of people, including foreigners. This is corruption. And it deprives their people of a future that is secure.

Clearly, there is no section of the community that has all the virtues, neither does any have all the vices. There is corruption in our urban areas and there is corruption in our rural areas. There are people who are very good in our urban areas and there are some who are very good in our rural areas. Both the bad and the good exist side-by-side in our rural and urban areas.

So the fight against corruption has to cover the entire 755,000-square kilometres of our country. The fight against corruption should leave no part of our country untouched. And no citizen of this country should stay away from this fight because we are all affected, if not infected.

It is therefore important, as Rev Mwanza has correctly advised, to sensitise our rural communities about the dangers of engaging in corrupt activities. The effort in fighting corruption must be extended to all our rural areas. And we urge all civil society organisations that are engaged in the fight against corruption to take some of their programmes to our rural areas. It is in the rural areas that we face the challenge of corruption, bribery and all sorts of malpractices during elections.

This is corruption. We cannot wait until elections to sensitise our rural people about the dangers of corruption. It has to be a continuous process. They have to be taught about how to hold their elected representatives accountable because lack of accountability leads to corruption and can be said to be corruption itself.

There is need to teach our rural people that the resources government officials take to them are not gifts from politicians. It is their own money, their government's money. And sometimes it may be money donated to them by other nations or peoples. All this money needs to be accounted for. Being constructed a clinic, a school, a feeder road is not a favour from those running government. It is a right. It is a duty.

Let's not give corrupt elements space. Let's fight them everywhere. There are many fake contractors enjoying taxpayers' money every year in feeder roads contracts.

They are corruptly given contracts to maintain feeder roads in rural areas where most enlightened people don't go and they don't do it. But they collect the money year in year out. Nobody makes them to account because many of us don't even know that there are such contracts and such contractors in such areas.

It's not easy to steal money that is meant for a street say in Kabwata, Bauleni, Munali, Mandevu or Matero. People will easily know what has happened. But still some money is stolen and poor streets are constructed. If this can happen in the capital city where so many enlightened people live, where so many civil society organisations monitoring corruption issues reside, what more in the rural areas where ignorance dominates?

There is need to quickly extend the fight against corruption to our rural areas. As Rev Mwanza has correctly pointed out, if this is not addressed, very little development will take place in our rural areas and poverty and despair will deepen.

It is clear that the fight against corruption cannot be carried out just by a few people in Lusaka. Everyone everywhere must be mobilised. The most potent of all restraints against corruption is an informed public. Let us ensure that there is increased awareness among our rural people about the issues of corruption.

Labels: CORRUPTION, PUKUTA MWANZA, RURAL AREAS

posted by MrK @ 4:51 AM