Dear Editor,
While on the campaign trail for the May 2015 elections, the coalition that is now in government had promised a slew of forensic audits and commissions of inquiries into the administration of government ministries, agencies and state-owned companies. The objectives of these audits were to address issues of heavy-handedness and aggrandizement that occurred in the past, and which were reported on in the media.
Some of these audits have revealed much more than was suspected, and in a few cases have led to charges being filed. When these cases go to trial it will be left to be seen how effective the prosecution can be, especially given our Foreign Affairs Minister’s pronouncement that weakness in statutory offices have in some ways fuelled local corruption (KN, February 3).
The fact that public officials in whom this nation placed so much trust must now be put on trial for allegedly enriching themselves, should be seen as part of a shameful episode in our history. These and the many other acts that may still be lying under the carpet have collectively led to the miasmic state we have become.
When compared to our Caribbean contemporaries, we are a nation that displays a higher level of political awareness and probably an unmatched eagerness to trust those in office to do the right things. Our daily discussions, wherever we may be, always drift back to some aspect of political administration, expectations and blind faith placed in people we hardly know.
The blind faith that we have placed in our post-independence leadership, is in some way guided by the sentiments we have concerning our history as a colony. We view most, if not all things associated with colonialism as bad, and that the people who led us into independence, as knowing better, and capable of leading us on the right path.
But our history will tell us that repeatedly, the very people we trusted so much, were the ones to inflict the most damage on our society. And as time progressed, and the revelations became too many to be denied, the public trust that was there waned. And we may have now arrived at a point where we will do as other developing and developed countries have done with corrupt officials. Maybe, this was a lesson in ‘tough love’ we needed to teach to those in whom we placed so much trust.
During the past decade, there were a few spectacular cases internationally, in which high-ranking officials were punished for corruption and self-enrichment. On December 29, 2015 the BBC reported that former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, had actually been sentenced to 18 months in prison, on a guilty charge of bribery. A former prime minister, going to jail at the ripe age of 70 – not bad for public justice.
The Chinese had been dealing with corruption in public office in ways that appeased the anger of a largely poor population. In some cases, the corrupt heads were methodically detached from the bodies that contained the sticky fingers. The Chinese messages on how to deal with corruption at home were resoundingly clear and rebuilt public confidence, even though such acts of ‘justice’ actually outraged governments in the West.
God forbid that we ever choose to follow the Chinese methods of delivering justice! Nevertheless, we must root out corruption, by whatever method we find acceptable. I must at this point note that an anonymous individual from the Corentyne area sought to bring into question the background of one government official. This would have happened just one day after that official’s investigations into allegations of fuel being stolen from a government-operated pump resulted in a canter being intercepted with the fuel (KN, February 2 and 3). This is not the first time the official’s persistence has led to such results.
But is this the kind of response we want to send as this anonymous individual has done, or the stance we want to take when acts of corruption however small, are brought to light? Are we that corrupt a nation, that we want to take out spite on the ones who are making the revelations? Is that the new low to which we have descended?
Now, as we approach local government elections (LGE) we must be mindful that the local democratic organs (LDOs) may have bumpy carpets under which many acts of corruption were quietly swept. I want to suggest that when the dust settles on these LGEs, one of the first orders of business for the central government, as well as the newly installed LDOs should be to have very comprehensive forensic audits done for the constituencies’ local authorities that would have been in place for the past 22 years.
Some who functioned in these bodies behaved as though there was no tomorrow, and that it was time to grab as much as they could, before someone else had the chance to do the same. Their actions were open secrets, especially when thieves fell out with each other, yet no one seemed to care.
I dare say, that what may be found can in some ways be reasons why LGEs were delayed for so long. And when those culprits are identified, and wherever they may be, please petition to have them brought back here as guests of the state. I heard that there are plans for a new residential block on Camp Street, which may have room for them.
Yours faithfully,
Khemraj Tulsie
