Awaiting The 'Wrath Of The Law'
THE question on everyone's lips is when someone will be made an example of when he or she is found guilty of abusing public trust for stealing money.
We have written about corruption in all its manifestations on so
many occasions that sometimes our words begin to sound like a tired
litany of complaints that see no end.
In his speech to Parliament this week, President Sam Nujoma did
make mention of the "scourge" of corruption.
And to give him credit, while he lauded the passing of the
Anti-Corruption Act he went on to say that the commissions to probe
irregularities in the management of state-owned enterprises would
"ensure that all those responsible for such malpractices will face
the full wrath of the law".
This is all well and good.
The point is: When will we see action in this regard? We have
written endlessly about the various presidential commissions
appointed to investigate irregularities in one or another
parastatal or state-owned enterprise.
We have reported them virtually blow by blow.
We have encouraged their investigations and have urged that
action follow to justify the effort put in.
While the commissions have done much to reveal the extent of
corruption in parastatals, their activities, outcome and
recommendations have not been taken to their logical outcome - the
prosecution of those responsible for acts of corruption in one form
or another.
This is where we would urge the President to give weight to the
words he uttered in Parliament this week, namely that these
perpetrators "...face the full wrath of the law".
It has not happened as yet.
In too many cases, commissions have been and gone, at great
expense to the taxpayer, only to disappear into the sands of time,
while those who caused them to be held in the first place flourish
on.
To mention just a few of them: the Social Security Commission;
the Roads Authority and Roads Fund Administration; and the Airports
Company, among others, have gone through various probes and
commissions and forensic audits; some of them taking months to
complete - and then follows the silence.
In many cases suspended officials who continue to be paid high
salaries during and after these hearings have pointed to
wrongdoing.
In the meantime, their substitutes are also remunerated.
The costs continue to escalate for the country and its
people.
In addition comes the not insignificant amounts spent on trying
to clean up after them, and this includes the commissions and the
forensic audits, among others.
Add all these costs to the amounts originally stolen or
misappropriated, and we would all undoubtedly be stunned into
disbelief ,for we can only guess at the extent of it.
The costs of corruption, as is widely known but apparently still
ignored, are unaffordable, particularly to a country such as ours
whose resources are not endless.
We have only made mention here of the parastatals and their cost
to country and people.
There are many others.
In regional councils, local authorities, Government as a whole,
we are losing our precious financial assets to outright corruption
and mismanagement to a frightening degree.
There are daily reports to this effect.
It is becoming so deeply entrenched in our daily lives that we
cannot but wonder whether any institution is free of it.
And while corruption, like so many other evils, will always
exist in some form or another we have to be seen not only to
identifying this scourge but, more important, to root it out.
The most obvious way of doing that is, as the President
promised, to bring the "full wrath of the law" down upon the
perpetrators.
In his speech to Parliament this week, President Sam Nujoma did
make mention of the "scourge" of corruption. And to give him
credit, while he lauded the passing of the Anti-Corruption Act he
went on to say that the commissions to probe irregularities in the
management of state-owned enterprises would "ensure that all those
responsible for such malpractices will face the full wrath of the
law". This is all well and good. The point is: When will we see
action in this regard? We have written endlessly about the various
presidential commissions appointed to investigate irregularities in
one or another parastatal or state-owned enterprise. We have
reported them virtually blow by blow. We have encouraged their
investigations and have urged that action follow to justify the
effort put in. While the commissions have done much to reveal the
extent of corruption in parastatals, their activities, outcome and
recommendations have not been taken to their logical outcome - the
prosecution of those responsible for acts of corruption in one form
or another. This is where we would urge the President to give
weight to the words he uttered in Parliament this week, namely that
these perpetrators "...face the full wrath of the law". It has not
happened as yet. In too many cases, commissions have been and gone,
at great expense to the taxpayer, only to disappear into the sands
of time, while those who caused them to be held in the first place
flourish on. To mention just a few of them: the Social Security
Commission; the Roads Authority and Roads Fund Administration; and
the Airports Company, among others, have gone through various
probes and commissions and forensic audits; some of them taking
months to complete - and then follows the silence. In many cases
suspended officials who continue to be paid high salaries during
and after these hearings have pointed to wrongdoing. In the
meantime, their substitutes are also remunerated. The costs
continue to escalate for the country and its people. In addition
comes the not insignificant amounts spent on trying to clean up
after them, and this includes the commissions and the forensic
audits, among others. Add all these costs to the amounts originally
stolen or misappropriated, and we would all undoubtedly be stunned
into disbelief ,for we can only guess at the extent of it. The
costs of corruption, as is widely known but apparently still
ignored, are unaffordable, particularly to a country such as ours
whose resources are not endless. We have only made mention here of
the parastatals and their cost to country and people. There are
many others. In regional councils, local authorities, Government as
a whole, we are losing our precious financial assets to outright
corruption and mismanagement to a frightening degree. There are
daily reports to this effect. It is becoming so deeply entrenched
in our daily lives that we cannot but wonder whether any
institution is free of it. And while corruption, like so many other
evils, will always exist in some form or another we have to be seen
not only to identifying this scourge but, more important, to root
it out. The most obvious way of doing that is, as the President
promised, to bring the "full wrath of the law" down upon the
perpetrators.