YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS : Of bank deposit rates: what’s in numbers?

        Today is the first day of the last month of this year – December 1, 2016 – and there’re a ‘bazillion’ events (pardon the exaggeration here) that took place in History on this date. Also, there’re other issues that are marked nationally or globally on December 1st for one reason or another – good, bad or middling!

These latter include ‘Teachers Day’ (Panama) and ‘World Aids Day’ (commemorated internationally).

December 1st is the earliest day on which ‘Farmers’ Day’ (Ghana) can fall, celebrated on the first Friday in December… Yes: Ghanaians also do have a ‘Farmers Day’ –much as we in Tanzania have: ‘Nane-Nane,’ marked on August 8…

One-off events of historic importance which happened on December 1 are too many to narrate here.

But, it’s interesting to recall what happened in the US on December 1, 1824, involving that year’s Presidential Election: an event which may have a bearing – albeit indirect or oblique – on the November 8 US Presidential Election this year whose results are somewhat controversial!

Conducted from Oct. 26 to Dec. 2, the 1824 election pitted Andrew Jackson against John Quincy Adams, neither of whom received the minimum 131 Electoral College votes to win, out of the 261 total at the time. While Adams garnered 84 Electoral College votes and 113,122 popular votes, Jackson received 99 Electoral College votes and 151,271 popular votes… Yet; and yet…!

Consequently, the House of Representatives was tasked to ‘decide the winner’ in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution. Apparently, it’s the only ‘election’ then to have been decided by the House after no candidate secured a majority of the College votes!

In the event, the House plumped for John Quincy Adams despite the fact that he’d garnered LESS College and Popular votes that Jackson! That’s ‘American Democracy for you in the self-styled ‘Land of the Free; Home of the Brave!

In the latest US Presidential electoral to-do, Bumbling Business Billionaire Donald Trump was propelled into the Presidency by the Electoral College (290 votes out of the total 538) against Hillary Clinton (248 College votes) despite the latter garnering more popular votes that Trump – estimated to reach 2m out of around 125m total votes cast!

Regarding both the 1824 and 2016 elections, supporters of the losers (naturally, perhaps) and some observers (analytically, perhaps) concluded that the ‘election/election result’ of Adams then and Trump today is fishy, perhaps rigged and, therefore, corrupt! Oh… I don’t know!

But the Numbers Game can mean much more than mere numerical statistics, or a lottery based upon the occurrence of unpredictable numbers… played skillfully (even if not with great probity) in the electoral stakes, this can result in Big Returns in Politics, etc!

In the financial stakes, this can lead to fabulous gains…

You don’t quite get what I’m driving at? Weeeeel…Recently, President Magufuli dissolved the Tanzania Revenue Authority Board for approving fixed-term deposits of Sh26bn in commercial banks.

Indeed, there’s nothing wrong with fixed-term deposits – especially as the returns – a.k.a. ‘fixed term interest products’ – are above-average: up to 8 per cent, compared with a measly three per cent for ordinary Savings Accounts!

What’s very wrong is: NOT only were the deposits public funds; but the returns went into private pockets, shared among dishonest top officials, the President lamented [See The Citizen, et al: Nov. 25, 2016].

Apparently, this ploy whereby officials of dubious probity illegally benefit from the public resources entrusted to them is widespread. Also, it has whiskers on it, dating back to the 1970s, to my experience as a Treasury official then!

One example was the deferment of (say) sales tax payments, whereby businesses deposited the tax money in banks – and shared the (fixed-term) interest thereon with unscrupulous officials who authorized the deferment!

No, Sir, President Magufuli must do more than just dissolve Boards if he’s to sever this other head of the legendary hard-to-destroy hydra monster… Cheers!