Tackling Corruption

Jan 24, 2011 Editorial

We are drowning in corruption. Like a cancer that has metastasized, its has not only overwhelmed the body politic but invaded the rest of society to the extent that we are all now being inexorably consumed.
The traffic policeman stops us on the road; the first reaction of most is to offer a “small piece”. We don’t want to put up with the tedium of qualifying for a driver’s license – or we are not prepared to jump through the hoops placed by avaricious officials – and we “pass something.
There are no corrupt governments; just corrupt officials and a compliant citizenry. There is no smoke without fire, and there is no fire without fuel. In the end it is the ordinary citizens that permit the corrupt officials to get away with their subversion of the moral fibre of our society.
Corruption will not end (or at least be brought under some modicum of control, since it appears to be endemic in the human condition) until the average citizen stands up for his rights (and in defence of the laws of his country) and refuse to go along with the chicanery. If the fuel supply is severed, the fire will become extinguished in due course.
There’s so much that can be done by ordinary folks but it would appear that we have become habituated into accepting corruption as part of our landscape. The “if you can’t beat them, join them” syndrome.
And then we mope and whine about how ripped off we all are. In this day and age of the ubiquitous cell phone why can’t pictures be taken or voices recorded of the grasping officials and then broadcast on the internet? Why can’t we use facebook and twitter for more than gossip? We have to begin to take some responsibility for our predicament.
On a tomb under of a long departed bishop in the crypts of Westminster Abbey there is engraved an epitaph that can serve us well at this hour: “When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it, too, seemed immovable. As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family. From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country and who knows, I may have even changed the world.”
There will be no messiahs to save us from drowning. We have to take a hard look in the mirror and take stock as to how complicit we all are in the small and large acts of corruption that abounds in the society.
How many of our own acquaintances, friends, relatives and even members of our own families have been sucked into the system? Reforming our own behaviour, even with our relations towards those that are corrupt, is within our control. Social ostracism is a potent tool in changing the behaviour of individuals.
Newspapers like ours can take a lead in ferreting out some egregious instances of graft but we know we are just skimming the surface. Corruption, like icebergs, exist mostly under the surface. Corruption, like a rotten fish, stinks from the top and the stench trickles down from above.
To make a visible impact, we have to tackle corruption not just on the periphery but also at the top. Later this year we will have an opportunity to make peaceful changes at the top if we believe that they have abused their mandate in facilitating corruption.
We would not want to reach a point, as in Tunisia, where the people have to come out into the streets.

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