|
Graft is recipe for social chaos, warns Kikwete
2006-02-21 09:07:44
By Guardian Reporter
Tanzania risks plunging into socio-political chaos similar to those afflicting failed developing countries if corruption continued to fester at the current rate, President Jakaya Kikwete warned yesterday.
Speaking at the national conference on Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCB) in Mbeya, President Kikwete said runaway graft constituted a major security risk if the social vice were left to take root.
’Since corruption is a social vice wananchi abhor, it can push the people to turn against their government, especially when they realise it violated their individual rights and liberties,’ he said.
He added: ’With excessive corruption people lose confidence in their government, leading to conflicts that can impact negatively on security, national cohesion and social stability.’
He said people could resort to mob justice and other means to enforce their demands because corruption obstructs access to what they want.
Kikwete said that as a result of rampant political corruption, especially during elections, democracy had been undermined in the country.
’Politically, corruption can affect democracy in that it restricts people from choosing the leaders they want. Corruption turns leadership into a commodity which can be sold and bought,’ he said.
|
