Having aimed my guns at the local media in my previous articles today I am aiming them at another target: local government officials and current state of local government institutions. Statistics made available from the Ministry of Local Government reveals that out of a total number of 556 local leaders, 245 have lost their jobs because of corruption. This is an amazing 44 percent of all local leaders. Having this huge percentage losing their jobs because they are corrupt is a ‘clear and present danger’ that needs to be focused on if national development and prosperity is to be attained. Some people are of the view that cases of rampant corruption are due to the decentralization policies that grant local leaders a ‘say’ on revenues that -especially money that is obtained through taxes. These leaders become overexcited by revenues that they never had access to before. Others believe that after the government decided to employ people who at least have had a decent education background to fill up the positions at local entities, these very same people tried to ‘get rich quick’ because of the social pressures that their positions expose them to. These young men and women feel the need to equate their positions with affluence, and often don’t worry about the repercussions of their actions. One thing that perplexes me about this situation is that the same people who are fond of taking repeated vocational training, retreats, national dialog summits and other forms of assemblies, which preach patriotism, development, first-class service delivery and the fight against corruption are same people doing exactly the contrary to what they were taught and professed. I am not going to recommend how this crisis is going to be dealt with because laws are already in place; but maybe tightening laws and punishment for those local leaders found guilty of corruption is the way forward. I say this because this issue is becoming pandemic in nature. Another thing is that I would recommend is making it clear to the Rwandan people whether a certain resignation or dismissal was as a result of corrupt tendencies on the part of the local leaders or whether it was another issue. The silence sometimes leads to speculation and rumor.Whatever the case, a constant follow-up of local leaders needs to be made so that, instead of having a certain mayor running off with millions, we have a situation whether he/she is stopped in their tracks when the damage is still miniscule. Otherwise, our very development is threatened by these unscrupulous men and women. theinspector@yahoo.com
