Over the last couple of months, we have witnessed several persons who hold public office put behind bars for corruption and abuse of office. Rwanda is one country that has for a relatively long period of time (at least since 1994) been known as a country where the zero tolerance on corruption principle works. So what is this we are witnessing? People watching from whatever distance or through whatever lenses, are bound to have different and widely divergent interpretations of what is happening. Some will think that corruption has shot up among public office holders. Others will yet think that this is part of the evidence of the zero tolerance for corruption that has become the hallmark of Rwanda. In some countries, corruption has become so entrenched to the extent that it has become a way of life. Whereas the corrupt are swiftly thrown behind bars and prosecuted here, in some countries in this region we live in, anybody who lands a public office is expected to loot the office as some sort of obligation to his community-bringing home the goodies!In such places, a public official who occupies a resourceful office and either remains an honest fellow or fails to swindle, is largely seen as a failure and an upstart. In simple terms, you are as good as useless if you do not use public office for private gain. Your village mates will praise you if you steal and bring home the loot. For you are seen and lauded as a true hero/son of the soil. Thus in places where corruption and looting of state resources has become a way of life, landing a big time government/political office is seen as “our turn to eat”. Public office is just about that; eating. People have the perception of ‘what is in it for me?’ rather than ‘what can I do for the country?’. It was reported on Friday that when the United Nations boss Ban Ki Moon, visited the Arusha based ICTR, the primary issue for the well paid officers of the court, was their future as workers of the UN. They wanted to know if they will still have jobs when the court winds up next year. Here you get the impression that the issue of what is in it for me takes precedence over everything else, even in these international bodies. This partly shows why people loot public offices. Fear of the unknown future. Some steal because they are unsure of what the future holds for them. They just look for ways of maintaining their lifestyles after leaving public office. But there are others who are just thieves. Small minded kleptomaniacs. In a place where there is no one with a moral high ground to call the rest to order, stealing public funds may not be that difficult and few would have second thoughts before dipping their fingers into the national till. But one shudders at the audacity of some people in a country like Rwanda. It takes a lot of guts to steal public funds in Rwanda. I state this because, with the kind of leadership right from the top most office, one would have to be a hardcore to deviate from the national vision and steal funds. This is so because the consequences of getting nabbed in the act are dire and obvious to all and sundry. What becomes clear is that whereas there is a clear and honest aspiration to stamp out corruption at the leadership level, crooks may have become ‘smarter’ in their maneuvers. This may imply that crooks have a perception that they can beat the system or institutional mechanisms in place to nab them. This may embolden some to steal, but as evidence suggests, it is an illusion because sooner or later they are always caught. Some pundits have said that nations can develop even when there is corruption. However, there is a cost to this. It must be fought vigorously because if there is little or no corruption, maybe the pace of development would be faster. The rapid development of China in recent times has been occasioned and sustained by among other reasons, its harsh penalty (firing squad) for the corrupt. They made it too risky a venture that you have to be mentally unstable to take such a suicidal course as stealing public funds. Contact: frank2kagabo@yahoo.com
