Maravi

Liang should serve as a bribery lesson to all

Liang should serve as a bribery lesson to all
By The Post
Sat 04 Feb. 2012, 13:00 CAT

IN a country where there is a feeling that it is normal practice to bribe government officials, the conduct of Rebecca Mulyengwa cannot be taken for granted.

Rebecca, an officer of the Anti Corruption Commission, refused to take a bribe of K50 million from Liang Ge, the proprietor of Top Motors, whose company supplied controversial hearses to the government. Liang wanted Rebecca to destroy evidence against Top Motors in an Anti Corruption Commission investigation file. Why? It's not difficult to guess why, but we leave that for the courts to determine.

Those who bribe government officials should be severely punished if corruption is to stop.

And the observations or remarks made by Principal Resident Magistrate Aridah Chulu in sentencing Liang deserve special attention. Magistrate Chulu sees bribery of government officers as a very serious offence. And she pledged that the court had to play a role to ensure that would-be bribers are deterred and that it was the duty of the court to give appropriate punishment to those who attempt to or bribe public officers.

This is the way things should be. This is the approach our people are expecting from their courts. And this is within the requirements of the law. All our institutions have to commit themselves to fighting corruption wherever and whenever it manifests itself.

And our courts of law are very important in this fight. It is said that the struggle against corruption is one of the greatest struggles of our time. And this being the case, everyone, every institution has to take part, has to make a contribution in this fight. Our laws condemn corruption. And corruption is condemned by all our religions, all our churches and all ethical codes.

Everything possible should be done to win this fight, to contain corruption. This is so because corruption hinders all development, slows all progress, impedes all advancement. It strikes hardest at the poor and vulnerable, siphoning scarce resources away from those most in need.

It advances the selfish interests of a dishonest few over the interests of the great many who work hard and who obey the law. Corruption also undermines governance in our country because it erodes public trust in government and private institutions alike; it breeds contempt for the rule of law. It also undermines confidence in the fairness of free and open markets. Corruption is, simply put, a scourge on civil society.

And yet it seems to be flourishing in our country today. There are so many public officials who betray the trust of the people they were sworn to serve. And this is why we say Rebecca's example is not something that should be taken for granted.

Each and every one of us should be alarmed by acts like the one of Liang which magistrate Chulu has rightly punished.

And sometimes when we talk about corruption, we seem to only be talking about public officers. We seem to be forgetting that the private sector is equally corrupt and is the one that pays bribes to public officials. Therefore, those who pay bribes should even be punished more than those who receive bribes.

We must ensure that our asset forfeiture laws are efficiently and effectively enforced against those who pay and those who receive bribes. But as we have seen in the cases of Frederick Chiluba and his tandem of thieves, this requires dedication, politically and otherwise. It also requires the dedication and expertise of investigators and prosecutors.

We cannot continue to have this situation where the poor continue to pay more, largely as a result of petty bribery demands. This judgment of magistrate Chulu should be a clarion call to all of us to join the fight against corruption. We must act. We must work together to ensure that the corrupt do not retain the illicit proceeds of their corruption.

There is no gentle way to say it: when kleptocrats steal from their people, loot their nation's treasury, they condemn our children to starvation, ignorance and disease. In the face of this manifest injustice, it will be a crime for anyone to turn a blind eye to corruption, to defend corruption and the corrupt.

And there may be need to re-look at our Constitution and ensure that the immunities given to public officers or officials are only used for legitimate public interest or common good and not for stealing public resources. We must end official impunity with regard to corruption. The only thing keeping Rupiah Banda from being jailed for corruption today is presidential immunity. This immunity has become impunity. This cannot stand for too long.

Swift and effective prosecution of corrupt elements, regardless of what positions they occupied in society, must be at the core of our broader effort to end corruption. We must prosecute corrupt public officials and those who bribe or corrupt them from the private sector.

We have no more solemn duty as citizens of this country than to protect the integrity of our government institutions by vindicating the rights of those harmed by the greed and dishonesty of a corrupt few. We should ensure that corrupt elected officials and appointed officials, as well as private citizens who illegally seek unfair advantage by bribing public officials, are arrested and prosecuted.

And key to such efforts will be the dedication of our law enforcement officers in the police, the Anti Corruption Commission and the Drug Enforcement Commission and indeed our prosecutors. They will have to perform their duties with independence, objectivity and fairness - without regard to one's political affiliation, status, wealth or position.

If they do their work well, our institutions will become stronger, our markets will become fairer and our people will be better off. We must all strive for this. We must all help our law enforcement agencies in this vital cause to vigorously enforce our laws that prohibit corruption.

We must work together to support all those who are actively engaged in this fight and expose all efforts to undermine the effectiveness of our anti-corruption initiatives. Together, we can make a difference. In this great struggle, we must not falter or compromise. Too many children's lives, too many of our people's hopes, too many futures depend upon the fulfilment of our collective commitment to fighting corruption.

We must not turn away from what is truly a defining issue of our time. This is not Michael Sata's crusade. It is a people's struggle - Michael is simply a leader, a commander or even a soldier in this struggle.

Let us all join Rebecca and magistrate Chulu in dedicating ourselves to eradicating the plague of corruption from our country. Our people demand, and deserve, nothing less.

As for Liang and Top Motors, they should never again be allowed to do business with government. They should never again be given a government contract or tender.

Labels: ACC, BRIBERY, LIANG GE

posted by MrK @ 12:20 PM