Facing the critic

Jul 06, 2008 Features / Columnists

There is none as blind as he who would not see. A few Government critics are; they would not see the obvious changes in the society, choosing instead to remain trapped in the shallows of their minds about their perceptions of the people who lead this country.

They insist that this country is being run by a dictatorship, and that whatever happens stems from chance. Four issues need to be examined here. One is the claim that there is corruption.

If there is so much corruption, they should have the decency to report such acts to the authorities, and await the outcome.

For as long as one can remember, the Government has been saying that anyone who has evidence of corruption should file the report and present the evidence.

Indeed, there have been corrupt individuals working in the public sector, and in each case where the evidence was obtained, the individuals were either sacked and prosecuted, or made to make restitution and sacked, because sometimes in the stream of things, the evidence that would lead to a dismissal from service is often not enough to gain a conviction in a court of law.

There is also the question of people continuing to seek anonymity, and therefore being inaccessible to the courts.

This country does not have the laws to allow people to offer testimony in private. Yet the critics have not taken these things into consideration. One would have expected that they would have researched the situation and make informed comments or criticisms.

But, then again, they could become the crusader and have people make all the necessary reports to them, and they, in turn, would forward these reports to the necessary authorities.

But this is not to be, because they have their own axes, to grind and a false view of their importance in the society continues to repeat the same thing ad infinitum.

There is another aspect to Government critics: he who pays the piper calls the tune, and this is the case of most critics.

Any businessman who has fallen foul of another could go to some critics, offer them some compensation, and the other businessman would be the victim of a most scurrilous attack in the pages of the paper that allows some critics to write.

The Government has evidence of this and has sat idly by, because no crime was committed except libel and slander. This is dishonesty and corruption of the highest order.

One businessman complained that a Government critic approached him with a report that he was ordered to write a scurrilous piece on him. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

The businessman bore his attack, and his reaction was to pull the advertisement from the newspaper. The critic, in his desire to shake down a businessman, ended up costing the newspaper money by way of lost advertisement.

Some critics write the same thing over and over again. Anyone who reads their column cannot help but notice that, four years ago, a prominent critic has written the same thing about an individual, and would be repeating the column almost verbatim so many years later. This critic is an individual who is shallow, and when he is out of some criticism, he simply repeats old ones.

It was a Government critic who launched one of the vilest attacks on people who bought plots of land at Ogle and constructed their homes. He accused them of all manner of illegalities, and called for investigations.

Lo and behold, the very critic, on a reasonable pay, was able to acquire and build on a plot of real estate that is superior to the one that was complained about at Ogle, and he was able put up a structure that would be the envy of many wealthy people.

Perhaps the Government should call for an investigation and get some answers to questions about these critics on their earnings.

The investigation may even uncover one critic’s attempts at tax dodging, which is a criminal offense; and should this be done, then people should not set out to blame the Government.

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