Corruption An Open Letter To Tanzanians

Yona F. Maro · 2009-05-07T10:28:22+00:00

Corruption An Open Letter To Tanzanians -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My dear fellow countrymen, This is the first of what I hope will be a series of regular letters to the 40 million Good People of this Great Nation. Being my first letter, I would like to deal with an issue of utmost concern to all, something that touches every life in the nation. Corruption is a menace that is posing a great challenge to our development, a torn in the flesh of our national conscience compromising the rule of law and becoming an undesirable way of life and governance that is undermining our democratic values. I would spend much energy and time addressing what I think should be lasting solutions to this somewhat incurable disease that is more dangerous than the notorious Swine flu. Many have talked passionately and elaborately about this problem with only a few suggesting the ways out. Lamentation will not effect any change unless we get to the root cause, cure it and remove all the signs and symptoms. I would be using this space to do exactly that. We have to come together to end this problem even though we did not create it but we have all contributed to project it to the current level. Very often, when we talk about corruption, we all tend to look at the other side, it something others do. Someone else is corrupt. Its what the politicians do, its what the bosses do and all the state and local government houses; and the parliaments. Yes they do but if they are the only corrupt beings, then only an insignificant fraction of our society is corrupt. We are all quick to judge as corrupt, the TRA and all organizations that have T stuck in them such as TPA , TANESCO, TEMESA, TAESA, TANAPA, TANROADS, TBC, . Yes! You are right. They are all corrupt but corruption is not limited to them. If corruption is only limited to what we see in Lowassa , Mkapa, Rostam , Mengi , and Dowans , I would be the first to thrown stone at them in the open. No! It is far beyond this. So what is corruption? Nice question! Who is corrupt? Still a good question!! How did we get there? A better question!!! And how do we get out of this mess? Wow! Youve just ask the best question!!!! My letter will deal with all these questions. According to Oxford English dictionary, corruption is dishonest or illegal behaviour or the willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. If I have to expand this and bring it home, then corruption is a dysfunctional system or institution in which government officials, political officials and private employers or employees seek illegitimate personal gains through actions such as bribery, extortion, nepotism, graft, embezzlement and abuse of corporate power by managers against the shareholders or consumers. Corruption usually facilitate organized crime and criminal activities such as money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking and all other forms of trafficking. A government is susceptible to political corruption where access to politics is organized with limited transparency, limited competition and directed towards promoting narrow interests featuring stuffs like kleptocracy rule by thieves inflating contracts and electoral process manipulation and rigging. Who is corrupt? This is a practical question that I would like to answer practically. In answering this question, I would like to ask you a few personal questions based on your past experiences. Youll need to do some personal appraisal. If you answer YES to any of the questions, it can not be said that your are totally immune to corruption. If you answer is NO to all the question, I may have to bring a lie-detector to run the test on you by myself and if you still get a perfect NO, be sure that Id recommend you to Transparency International (TI) in Berlin, Germany for a special anti-corruption award. · Have you ever embezzled i.e. wrongfully taken, stolen or misappropriated a fund or office entrusted in your care. This include sending an official employee e.g. your official driver on a private errand? YES/NO · Have you ever favoured or received favour from relatives, friends and associates in employment, judgement, award of contract or admission? YES/NO · Have you ever made an illegitimate gain in employing someone or given a contract to a person other than the most competent candidate? YES/NO · Have you ever been settled, taken a graft or a kickback i.e. a share of misappropriated funds from overpriced purchases or allocated from an organization involved in inflated contract? YES/NO · Have you ever rigged an election or accepted an elected office through a fraudulent election? YES/NO · Have you ever inflated the price of an item purchased in your official capacity or inflated the price of a contract? · Have you ever used your official power illegitimately as means to an end, to punish or promote a person or to trump-up charges against enemies? YES/NO If your answer is outright NO, congratulation! You have not contributed to corruption in the country but wait! Before you start uncorking the Champagne or giving testimony in your local church of your incorruptibility, let me ask you the last question. · Have you ever given any form of bribe to any one or taken one. YES/NO The answer to this may require a real soul-searching. Think of the popular Tshs 20000 at the checkpoint substituting vehicle documents, 30000 at the airport for easy passage, 300000 to the Immigration officer for quick passport, Tshs 20000 at Namanga and Tanga border to make the Custom men blind, 1000000 to have a reduced tariff or duty, 3000000 to the Bunge Committee, Tshs 60000000 to NEC to change the will of the people, Tshs 400000000 to the Presidency for the Mineral block. Wow! Everything has a price. Really, corruption can be graded. Some are more harmful than the others but every bit of it is detrimental to our system. We are where we are today as a result of all the forms of corruption at all level and we are all have to take responsibility and flush it out of our national life. How did we get this low? No nation is perfect. No country is 100% protected from corruption. In all great nations, corruption is not visible and acceptable. It goes on underground and perpetrated by only an infinitesimal fraction of the society and who are brought to book whenever they are caught. Tanzania was like this until the mid 60 when we had our first shot at electoral corruption. Ever since the mid 60s, corruption has been dwelling with us and all successive governments made the fight against corruption a core point of their policies. We never really had a large scale corruption until the regime of Benjamin Mkapa , A News Maker turned president. The government was viewed as very corrupt and incompetent by virtually all sectors of Tanzanian society. Are News Makers incompetent to put their Making experiences and skills to ruling a nation? So how do we get out of this mess called corruption? Whatever has a beginning must definitely have an end. Life always present us with choices. We have two choices in ending this endemic vice that has apparently caused us to live a discounted life with an ever diminishing standard of living. It has eroded our national pride and sense of belongingness leaving us with nothing other than a collapsed system with brain drain and unemployment as main features and now threatening to completely mortgage our future. Much sooner than later, we will be left with a violent change is we fail to make a peaceful change now! Dodoma should know that those who make peaceful changes impossible, make violent changes inevitable. Most Tanzanians hope and pray to live in a country that will be free from corruption and many of us believe that a cause worth living for is worth dying for. We will be left with no alternative than this bloody revolution if we fail to act on a peaceful resolution. The peace resolution will require a collective effort by all and sundry to be spearheaded by the government. Needless to say that with this depth of corruption, no single person or organisation has the moral ability and capability to fight it because when you do a background check, you will find out that those empowered by law to fight corruption are more deeply involved in corruption than those they want to check. The government has to provide an enabling environment by making zero tolerant policies (that must be strictly adhered to) against corruption and by leading through example that will flow down the ladder. President Kikwete must show that he is serious about fighting this corruption and if he succeeds in just only this, posterity will place him on the right side of history. Everyone has to give up all corrupt practices or be brought to book and whenever we see something, we have to say something as demanded by TAKUKURU. Tanzania also need to get back all the stolen money and looted treasures especially considering the present economic situation. We thereby need to set up a recovery commission using the South African model of Truth and Reconciliatory Commission (TRC) in order to get the loots back so that we can have a fresh start. TRC was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Anyone who felt that he or she was a victim of its violence was invited to come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution. Despite some flaws, it is generally thought to have been successful. It was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. A recovery commission will enable people to come out voluntary and return back their loots in exchange for amnesty and only those who refuse to cooperate will be brought to justice. If we fail to act now, the good people of this great nation are becoming impatient and the forceful change is imminent. A word is enough for the wise and the fact remains that The future will have no pity for those men who have the exceptional privilege of speaking the word of truth to their own oppressors but who have taken attitude of passivity, mute indifference and sometimes of cold complicity. Frantz Fannon God Bless Tanzania ! Tanzania Go Better! Yours Sincerely,

Thread starter Yona F. Maro
Start date May 7, 2009

Yona F. Maro

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Corruption An Open Letter To Tanzanians