Corruption thrives in many government departments mainly due to lack of accountability. Officials, from top-to-bottom, share the booty, with low-paid officials serving as conduits. For eliminating corruption, dealings with government departments should be made transparent.

To ensure accountability, there should be a time-frame for the issue of licences and permits. It should be indicated in the application forms, besides being prominently displayed on office notice boards. Awareness of rights and entitlements is a pre-requisite for the people to prefer complaints against erring officials.

To my mind, the root cause of all that ails our country is the decline in moral standards resulting from the erosion of national character.

NGOMA