According to Transparency International, “Poorly equipped schools, counterfeit medicine and elections decided by money are just some of the consequences of public sector corruption. Bribes and backroom deals don’t just steal resources from the most vulnerable – they undermine justice and economic development, and destroy public trust in government and leaders… Most Sierra Leoneans are struggling to make ends meet, with average personal income of slightly more than $1 a day.”
“Corruption is responsible for the abject poverty and poor health that are killing the vast majority of children and adults in Sierra Leone. And it seems from the latest Transparency International report; there is no hope of an improvement.”
The corrupt acts of people in power have over the years led to the deaths of thousands of people needlessly of preventable diseases and poverty. Corruption makes it difficult to maintain the rule of law.
During the days of Late President Siaka Stevens, in his one party dictatorship, many people thought Salone’s governance problems could only be solved when our academics become ministers of Government. The ageing president succumbed to pressure and started placing Doctors and Professors as ministers. That was when our corruption was upgraded! This reminds me of a policeman at a workshop some years back who said that if the police were said to be corrupt, at least theirs is transparent. When queried, the police explained that the policeman openly takes bribe in the full view of people and the money is small, like Le5,000 or Le10,000. But for other walks of life, a little funny signature will fetch millions of Leones. I hope you get the point. The only snag here is that for the Anti-Corruption Commission, whether the money involved is big or small, corruption is corruption.
No more is it any gainsaying that Sierra Leoneans recognize that corruption is a major bane in our country. Many admire the mansions sprawling the hillsides with ill-gotten funds. Everybody keeps scratching his or her head and biting his or her pen as to how to tackle corruption. One sector that does not care is definitely the politician. You could have seen how our politicians lavished money over the weekend.
One big irony in our political history is today, while we have very corrupt public servants yet for the 2018 elections, the electorates are expecting that political candidates who are not corrupt are appointed to high places!
In all this, it is the Anti-Corruption Commission I feel sorry for because over the years they have been doing their best to curb graft but many times their efforts are frustrated when the judiciary thinks otherwise. Our politicians will tell us that Sierra Leone has one of the toughest Anti-Corruption outfits in Africa. Yes, it may be so but the real joy should be the extent of the ACC successfully getting people punished for corruption and better still when there is a reduction of corruption.
An issue that keeps coming up is where we should begin the fight against corruption, whether we should start with those in governance or ordinary people. We also need to understand that corruption is not just about money.
You will agree with me that poverty may not be the excuse for corruption, although it serves as a potent recipe. A poor man is easier to throw caution to the wind when it comes to morals. On the other hand, a rich man is also prone to corruption in order to maintain the status quo. Like they say, poor people work for money but the rich make their money work for them.
Whenever the issue of corruption comes up, I think of Ayi Kwei Armah’s, “The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born”. It looks like the author actually had Sierra Leone in mind. The squalid and outlandish putrefaction described in that novel, which makes you lose your appetite for a whole day, seems to have visited us in Sierra Leone. When a country is pronounced as corrupt, the first place they look is governance. The reason is obvious especially as our Constitution gives huge powers to those in charge and it is so difficult for them to escape providing the advantage.
Sadly enough, it is very difficult not to bring politics into most of the malfunctioning of society. Take the case of general indiscipline and recklessness. In normal circumstances one can hardly blame the unchecked, undisciplined street trading on our streets on any government. But what has happened is that for so long people have been calling on authorities to get the traders’ from the prohibited areas but for some reason or the other this could not be done. It appears the politicians’ hands are tied. During an election year it is suicidal for any politician to upset the Abacha cart so to speak. But tell me are we to continue sacrificing our integrity for vote? Now electorates are asking for people who are not corrupt to lead them. Tell me where are they? Of course a legacy of corruption begets corruption.
We must recognize the fact that democracy brings with it a lot of pains that we should be ready to bear, like the sting of the bee if we want the sweet honey. We are told that there are only two types of governments, a popular one and an unpopular one. One very big gap in our democratic strides is the inability of Political Parties to comply with regulations contained in The Political Parties Act 2002. PPRC has over the years been just too lenient with all parties, understandably?
Now you will tell me that there can never be a successful meeting between the fowl and the cockroach. Also you cannot employ a dog as a butcher except of course it has given up its love for meat. Can we really develop as a nation without the necessary education and what DJ Base will call the over standing? How over standing are we on the very issues that hinge on our livelihood? Because the bulk of our compatriots are locked out in ignorance, we will continue to have challenges in our governance processes. The dynamics of all this constitute corruption. There is a huge knowledge deficit manifested by those put at the helm of affairs to improve our depraved existence.
Over some years now, the adherence to democratic tenets has become the yardstick to measure state’s performance. In this 21st century, where donor dependence is still prevalent, states not adhering could well be seen as selling the very ropes to hang themselves. Or in other words, states will shoot themselves in the foot by not complying. In country, we are looking to certain structures to move forward in tandem good governance, human rights, democracy and development.
For once we hope regulations to minimize political party spending will be in place so that poor parties are not disadvantaged. We can definitely not have democracy working in an atmosphere of corruption.
By Ben Cambayma
Wednesday November 01, 2017.
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