ETHICS : Citizens are the losers in graft issues

It is a well-known and indeed a sad fact that, unlike today and its accompanying current turn of events in our country, most specifically on the renewed efforts by the government to fight the outrages of inequality, social and economic injustices that appear to be focus more on protecting citizens against those who want to continue to treat them unfairly, fraudulently and undemocratically, for quite some time now most of our leaders have not been well understood. We have a reason for this modest submission.

Before the current wave of the indicative JPM optimistic progress, our leaders often looked complacent to, and at times even complicit in, acts of the violation of human dignity, greed, misuse of power, and undeniably the enigma of corruption. In fact and by way of example, a few years of unending story of Escrow pocketing, pilfering and pinching has added heaviness to the mess as far as some of our leaders’ moral uprightness is concerned.

With the current government beginning to steadily unearth if not uncover realities on the ground, and showing tough options on, among others, the restored determinations to address, among others, the Escrow puzzle, at this juncture one can confidently claim that the direction is, much more exciting now. The same has led to the growing sense of worriedness, and the rising logic of nervousness, worry, concern and uneasiness among the guilty as well as the not guilty. This spirit would be worthy if and only if it is genuine, sincere and honest.

Our assertion here is also evidenced in the recent decision by Mr William Ngeleja (MP) to whole heartedly return over Sh40 million to the government via Tanzania Revenue Authority, something still disputed as dubious. His decision is superb though, I think, but his fate together with all who received the money at different amounts may linger grim, unattractive, and distasteful for a long time to come. The earlier mentioned tough options by JPM and his squad is hopeful, and as things stand now, at least one of the options should provide a sense of optimism.

Let me leave the legal side of the mystery to the lawyers. Let me remind the general public, of the seriousness of Escrow shame. From a moral perspective, within the context of growing gap between the rich and the poor, it is we the poor, who have been and continues to be the underdogs and losers. Yes, the giving and receiving of Escrow money is not only serious but staid even if the money was given, as it is insisted, in good faith.

We say serious because, long before the distribution of the money, there was already a clear disclosure of the indicative sense of wrongdoing for the public interest. The debate on various public platforms suggested that activity was previously deemed illegal and unethical. In political circles, some prominent politicians clearly spoke of the actions as not only correct but needed a high level of attention. This is the reason why the problem is now coming afresh with such a serious undertone.

Of all the diverse public voices regarding Escrow riddle, at least one is common. It is about unfairness and greed. Here is an issue involving high-level of public and religious leaders and officials, who, with due respect that the money was given to them out of good will, but what this speaks today is that while inequality is bad and getting worse in most African countries, confusion on the receiving and giving of unclear money is with us. Hearing the sums of money received, they seem to have contributed to the vast income gaps hence participating in driving our country’s consumption patterns to harm wananchi.

All that said however, justice is important here. We have to be fair with our fellow citizens. Until they are declared not guilty, our polite opinion is; by involving themselves in active and passive bribery and corruption, both parties did deliberately use a certain power or authority, indicatively motivated by human greediness, insatiability and self-interest. Let us wait until this is proved.