Saturday, 19th September 2009
Fighting corruption
Stories of corruption make me sick. The idea of having someone manipulating a whole system for his or her own benefit should bother any decent person. High profile cases of corruption that come to the fore, either accidentally or because someone exposes them, send out a very negative message to the whole society. It severely affects the level of trust of people in the institutions where corruption takes place.
Let's take corruption in local football. For many years we have been hearing of fixed matches particularly in the top league. Once I was told that a very important match a few leagues ago had the result ‘adjusted' during the half time following a hot conversation between those involved,
Of course, corruption is very difficult to prove unless someone who is directly involved decides to blow the whistle. Even then, such a person or persons would have to provide hard evidence that that corruption had taken place. This probably explains why the MFA board investigating allegations of corruption in the Premier League took so long to conclude its deliberations. Demotion to an inferior league and fiscal penalties are the least those involved could have expected. The amount of damage their action has caused to local football is massive. Worse still, such practises cause a permanent damage to the whole society.
The cases of corruption unearthed at the VAT Department have also ignited a sense of anger in many honest and law-abiding citizens. Those who would paid large sums of money for getting something the government would have given for free anyway, are perhaps the angriest of all. They must feel cheated and ridiculed.
After a serious investigation those who allegedly committed this crime were apprehended and taken to court. Some have already pleaded guilty as charged and handed down a sentence.
Others are still to face justice. Maybe one would have expected a harsher sentence, but then sentences are decided by the Court and guided by the law.
I found certain criticism, particularly that coming from the Leader of Opposition, fired towards the courts with an underlying attack on government, very unfair. This is a democratic country were the courts of law are independent. And thank God for that.
On the other hand, if we want penalties against those who commit such crimes to become harsher and more prohibitive, we are at liberty to do that. Both Government and the Opposition can work together on this perhaps through the Parliamentary Select Committee. I still do not consider general interdiction whereby the individual guilty of such abuse is given a general interdiction, a suspended sentence and a fiscal punishment, a light sentence.
It should be pointed out that such cases are now coming out in the open, very often on the initiative of government. This was the case with what happened at the VAT department. There were other cases as well. The government has nothing to hide. It will protect no one. Those among us who decide to ignore the law, ethics and appropriate behaviour will do so at their peril. I was glad to hear that the Ministry of Finance is also considering civil action against those found guilty in order to recoup the money it has lost. Or rather we have lost.
If we need to strengthen our legal structure to send out a stronger signal to those who even think of repeating such a crime, we should do so without letting political bickering waste precious time.
For example the Whistleblower Act is on the cards and will probably see the light of the day quite soon. Other legislation enacted by past Nationalist governments has helped make our society more transparent. The Freedom of Information Act is one such piece of legislation which guarantees that any citizen could request information held at government departments. Such legislation prevents institutionalized corruption, corruption which goes on with the blessing of government.
Those who were victims of such criminal acts in the past, will vouch for the ugliness of such a situation. The institution of the Ombudsman has also helped identify weak spots within the public sector apart from addressing particular injustices suffered by individuals. The consolidation of the University Ombudsman and MEPA's Ombudsman within the same Institution is certainly a move in the right direction.
All citizens stand to benefit from a clean society, free of corruption and maladministration, regulated by a transparent and widely-accepted system which raises the alarm whenever any foul play is sensed.
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