LET’S BE SERIOUS, DEAL WITH CORRUPTION

In general terms, corruption is defined as an dishonest or illegal behaviour, especially by powerful people such as government officials, politicians or law enforcers.

Chances are always high that a dishonest person is corrupt. In our own beloved Kingdom of Eswatini, corruption has been the buzzword as it is on everyone’s lips. The nation is concerned about the high level of corruption. They made it clear during the Sibaya People’s Parliament, that they heard enough of corruption. This is a serious matter.

The effects of corruption are wide-ranging, some of which are fairly obvious, while others require explanation. Research shows that the effects are but not limited to undermining the sustainable development goals, causing economic loss and inefficiency, resulting in poverty and inequality, because it is generally considered as a weapon that does not serve the interests of the underprivileged.

Other effects include causing personal loss, intimidation and inconvenience because when people experience corruption, it is rarely a positive experience. In a corrupt system of government, a bribe must be paid to receive medical attention, obtain a building permit, pick up a package, or enjoy phone services. Again, where corruption is thriving, a judge can rule against a party, not based on the facts of the case but because the opponent has just been able to pay a bribe. It is sickening! You then ask yourself, where are we as a country when it comes to such corruption effects?

Eradicate corruption

It is for this reason that some people think they are being taken for a ride by the very people they have put their trust in to eradicate corruption. Here, I am referring to people in the higher positions of power, who have the authority to put corrupt individuals behind bars, because that is where they belong. Sadly, we are yet to see this happen.

We were all listening attentively when emaSwati, out of serious concern, called for action to be taken against corruption in the country. We have not forgotten the commission of inquiry that was instituted to investigate bribery allegations during Senate elections.

During this process, it was alleged that cash was flowing like the river canal, in exchange for votes. Wanting to be seen to be doing something, Parliament called a press conference to inform the nation that a commission of inquiry would be mandated to investigate these bribery allegations and this was last year. We were hoping that by now, another joint press conference involving Parliament would have been called, to provide the people with a progress report on the investigations.

We are looking forward to that day. The silence on this issue is very loud. People want to know what has been done, who is implicated in the allegations, if there is any substance to them, or will the action taken or not to be taken?
It is very confusing why this is taking so much time.

These are the things that can easily make people to lose confidence in the credibility of our Parliament, if they are left hanging just like this. Parliament must be seen to be taking responsibility on this issue; that is very important.
There were also concerns raised about the corruption in the Master of the High Court office during Sibaya, as citizens are claiming to have lost lots of money due to underhand tactics.

Then tell me, if the Master of the High Court cannot be trusted on dealing professionally on Estate matters, then how do you trust the efficiency of the entire Judiciary system of the country? It is ironic that a commission of inquiry was instituted by the then Minister of Justice Maweni Simelane after similar concerns were raised against the Master of the High Court office.

Dysfunctionality

Therein lies the problem. While we are still waiting for the findings of that probe to be effected, another commission of inquiry has been set up again, only this time by the chief justice (CJ). The cumulative effect of individual corrupt acts is dysfunctionality, because whether offered by the public or private sectors, the quality of goods and services decrease, and the process of obtaining them becomes more expensive, time consuming and unfair.

If bribes can successfully be offered to police, doctors, and civil servants, then those who are most successful at extracting these funds get ahead to the detriment of more honest people.When a bridge collapsed in Genoa in August 2018, killing at least 39 people, there were many possible causes to consider, but corruption was not the obvious one.

However, subsequent investigations found that a Mafia-controlled construction company appeared to have used a ‘weakened’ cement in the building process. It is an open secret that the construction industry is a valuable source of profits and a channel for money-laundering operations by the Mafia.

In countries like Mexico, as stated in the Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity, blames corruption for the collapse of over 40 buildings during the September 2017, earthquake in Mexico City. Land use and permit laws appear to have been bypassed, ostensibly through bribery, cronyism and influence trading, leading to the presence of fundamentally unsafe buildings around the capital. The million-Dollar question is, how safe is Eswatini from these corrupt practices?

People need to understand that what is described as dysfunctional is actually functional and profitable for corrupt actors. It is unfortunate that in a corrupt nation, citizens with strong ethical principles and those who lack significant funds, connections, favours to dispense, hard power over others such as guns lose representation, influence lose representation, influence and power. That unfortunately is the sad reality.

Powerful

When corruption pervades the justice system, people can no longer count on prosecutions, and judges to do their jobs. The powerful may escape justice, and citizens especially those with little money or no powerful allies, may be unfairly accused of crimes, deprived of due process and wrongly imprisoned.

In a corrupt country, levels of violence, illegal drugs, prostitution, sexual slavery, kidnapping, domestic violence, and intimidation rise accordingly. Once again, the question is, where are we especially where the mentioned are concerned? Your guess is as good as mine!

Even if citizens were to adamantly demand that the problems listed be addressed, corruption undermines the power of politics to an extent that bribery, trading in influence and State capture are widespread, political systems become incapable of addressing social problems whose resolution would threaten vested interests. When corruption, in particular State capture, becomes the norm, this can lead to polarisation among citizens, those in support of corrupt regimes (because of kickbacks and handouts) versus those opposed to them.

In such instances, policy is judged, not on the basis of ideology or a project’s inherent merits, but on who the policy proponents are and what benefits competing networks can reap. And it is not like people cannot see this glaring corruption. That is why it is important as a country that has been instituted to prove corruption, it must be seen to the very end. If we are to win the corruption battle as a country, then we need to nip this sickness in the butt. We cannot realistically allow individuals with corruption links to pass laws that will govern the country, that would be setting a very bad precedence.

Forensic probe

It is a great pity that the commissions of inquiries aimed at addressing the corruption tendencies are seemingly failing to produce the desired fruits yet in that very moment, public funds are being used to set up such processes. Another good example is the forensic probe into the disappearance of medical drugs that has left public hospitals short of medical supplies.

The findings of that probe remains mere speculation, which should not be the case in all honesty, considering that lots of taxpayers’ money was used to fund this process. Why is the report being kept a secret, who are being protected here? This is probably what most people following this issue are asking themselves. Where is the transparency bekunene? Why are we undermining the intelligence of the people?

As it is, these much-publicised commission of inquiries into corruption are proving nothing but a waste of time and public funds for the country. Today, we are still for the release of the Sicunusa/Nhlangano highway, which has still not been completed, over five years later. You ask yourself, how much government is losing in this project.

This is not an isolated matter, there are a number of other projects that are taking forever to be completed yet millions of emalangeni continue to be spent on them. We all agree that the country’s economy needs improvement yet we are not addressing the growing corruption allegations that are threatening such efforts.       

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