|
corruption should be fought without double-standard
2007-08-29 08:52:44
By Emmanuel Hayuka
`The second thing, which is very bad and which we must avoid is to obtain leadership by way of corruption. By so doing you`re committing an illegal act which also tarnishes the respect of our party.
I urge my fellow CCM members not to use bribe to obtain leadership.
Likewise we should not accept bribe in order to vote for a candidate because leadership should not be bought and votes should not be sold,` explained President Jakaya Kikwete when speaking about the forthcoming CCM general election while addressing the Nation on 31st July 2007.
The statement from the head of state and government shows how corruption continues to be a major threat to the welfare of our nation as a whole.
It is acknowledged worldwide that corruption, particularly pertaining to abuse of power and embezzlement, discourages equitable political, social and economical development of the country.
That is why the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere once said `..corruption is the enemy of justice, and...in a country where the government is corrupt, the poor have nothing`.
This statement from undoubtedly the most respected statesman in the country also emphasizes the extent of the threat corruption poses to our country.
The threat is basically due to the fact that, these vices normally lead to unequal distribution of resources within the country.
They tend to create suitable environment for rich people to access the resources to the detriment of the poor, because by using their economic muscles they can penetrate in various social ,economical and political institutions.
For instance,the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism,Professor Jumanne Magembe,on July 24 this year, while addressing the media in Dodoma stated that he had received a list of business people involved in illegal logging `...and I cannot touch some of those on the list...because they are presidential appointees` like himself.`
However, he stressed that `the war will be fought across the board... because such people were not just depleting the country\'s resources but were also denying the government revenue`.
The Minister`s dissatisfaction with the forestry sector was also echoed by the outgoing USA Ambassador to Tanzania Michael Retzer who was quoted by THISDAY newspaper of August 4, this year as saying ,`We are also troubled by irregularities in the natural resources sector.
It has been estimated that the under-collection of logging revenues amounted to 58m USD(approximate 72.5bn/-).`
He further said that the money lost to just the logging corruption could have built 10,000 new school classrooms in Tanzania. `The loss of this opportunity is unacceptable,` he stressed.
There is no doubt that unequal distribution of both national resources and income has been one of the major causes of socio-political crisis worldwide in general and Africa in particular as some people feel that they have been marginalized.
Even in Tanzania some people have been complaining vehemently about the inequality which is exists and seems to widen day after day.
What is required now is to step up unequivocally the fight against corruption both in public and private sectors, embezzlement of public resources, abuse of power by public servants and other vices.
However recent events have shown that a lot of contradictions exist in respect to the war against corruption.
The Bank of Tanzania scandal is a good example of such contradiction.
While on one hand the opposition camp, through Dr Wilbrod Slaa, revealed the scandal and requested the government to suspend the BOT Governor so as to enable an independent parliamentary committee to investigate the matter, on the other the government turned down the request saying that there is no need to form such a committee to investigate because the government has the machinery that is capable of doing the investigation.
To the sizeable section of the public, the issue is not the capacity and ability of the government machinery to conduct the investigation, but, whether the said government machinery will be impartial in their investigation while the governor is still in office.
Unlike the BOT saga, the ruling Party\'s Central Committee under the chairmanship of President Jakaya Kikwete, has recently suspended top officials of its Parents Wing(Jumuiya ya Wazazi) including its National Chairman Abiud Maregesi, Deputy National Chairman Ramadhani Suleimani, the acting National Secretary General Cosmas Hinju and an officer at the headquarters of Jumuiya ya Wazazi Babilas Mpemba on allegations of embezzling and mismanagement of the Jumuiya ya Wazazi secondary schools project funds.
According to the report which was signed by Aggrey Mwanri, the National Executive Committee (NEC) secretary who is responsible for Ideology and Publicity, the action was taken so as to enable the party organs to investigate the accusations they are facing.
This approach is commendable as far as the fight against corruption, embezzlement, abuse of public office and the likes is concerned.
It ensures impartiality and non-interference of the investigation.
However one wonders why a similar approach was not used in the BOT scandal or others of such nature.
It was the expectations of the majority of Tanzanians that the fourth phase government would solve or, to a great extent, reduce the developmental impediments the country is facing as per promises which were made by the current government during 2005 general election.
Generally speaking, better life for every Tanzanian cannot be realized by depending entirely on the government, but it can only be realized through co-operation between the citizens and their government by working hard to eliminate our longtime declared enemies namely, ignorance ,diseases and poverty.
However, in order to succeed in this endeavor on that, there is a need to vigorously fight against corruption, embezzlement of public funds and resources, and abuse of office which are major impediments in realizing better life for every Tanzanians.
Therefore when President Jakaya Kikwete delivered his first speech December 30, 2005, he said `we must tighten mechanisms to ensure public officials do not use their offices for personal gain and self-enrichment.
I am not against people getting rich. Indeed, I want everyone to have a better life.
What I am against, however, is people using public offices for self-enrichment`.
Many Tanzanians were impressed by the statement and hoped that the war on corruption would gain a new momentum.
Unfortunately the overwhelming expectations that the people once had, have start to diminish.
This situation has been prompted by the perceived failure of the government to deal with corruption and related vices adequately.
The problem may not be one of inaction, but of the lack of information on how the government has been dealing with corrupt officials and the manner in which cases of similar nature are treated differently.
Justice should not only be done, but should be seen to have been done.
Therefore in order to succeed in the fight against corruption it is significant to ensure that the public sees that the government has taken action and that justice has prevailed.
The manner in which the leadership of the ruling party dealt with the case of Maregesi and his colleagues should also be replicated in the BOT scandal so that the ordinary people can see that their government is vigorously dealing with these vices.
|
