Stoking The Fires of Corruption: An International Perspective

Over the past few months there has been several governments tainted with corruption on the international scene, and these revelations have come about as a result of investigative journalists becoming more daring and their quest to tell the story as it is, and not the usual distorted views. Several huge amounts of monies badly needed to build hospitals, health centers, provide portable and good drinking water etc etc have been siphoned by certain individuals within their respective governments into numerous offshore bank accounts, leaving the innocent and vulnerable citizens in deplorable conditions.

In South Africa, the President is alleged to have used the state’s money to renovate his private residence in his hometown, Nkandla. This has been debated several times in the South African Parliament several times with some MPs calling for him to step down, but surprisingly Jacob Zuma survived a vote of “no confidence” when the matter was put to the vote. He would have been impeached if the vote had gone contrary. South Africa is also facing a problem where the Guptas who are very influential when it comes to appointments by the government and the awarding of contracts. All these are traces of corrupt practices that is giving South Africa a bad image on the international scene.

In Brazil, the President, Dilma Roussef is facing a possible impeachment over allegations that she manipulated the government finances to prop up the government on a sound economic footing. Thus she did not tell her people the true and real nature of Brazil’s economy. Most of her coalition partners have already deserted her and she is now accusing them of being traitors. The outcome of the impeachment proceedings will be out for the whole world to see. She has denied all the allegations leveled against her and the government.

Then here comes the #PanamaPapers or #PanamaLeaks which has revealed the hiding of huge sums of monies by several past and present leaders, politicians and influential businessmen and women in tax havens in several countries managed by the law firm Mossack Fonseca. Cronies and friends of several leaders have also been cited in the leaks. My question is why will they hide their monies in tax havens while the ordinary citizens in their respective countries pay the taxes to develop the countries? Indeed, these revelations have really highlighted the issue of money laundering and the dirty money used by some governments, drug barons and other individuals to propagate their nefarious, frivolous, luxurious and opulent lifestyles. As with several leaks, this one too will go unpunished as several tax havens exist in the Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands, Macau etc etc. The fires of corruption has been really stoked for a long time and the international dimension that it has gotten to needs to be addressed otherwise the ordinary citizens will rise up one day and put an end to it.

Friends Today, Enemies Tomorrow.

Have you ever been in a friendship that seems to be everlasting, and all of a sudden the two best friends become sworn  enemies? When that happens all types of strategies would be employed to get rid of each other or to make one look bad. This enmity has come down to us in this our modern world, and it is happening between countries who were once good allies and fought for a common interest. The USA used to have friendly and warm relations with Iran during the 1970s when the Shah of that country was at the helm of affairs. But this relationship turned sour and cold when the Shah was overthrown by the fundamentalists led by the spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The US then fought a proxy war with Iran by propping Saddam Husein of Iraq and sending him weapons. This was the Iran/Iraq War from 1980-1988. This war ended with no clear victor. Saddam Husein was then branded an enemy by the USA when he decided to invade Kuwait. That was the biggest mistake he did. We all know what happened after that invasion. Then in the early part of the 21st century Iraq was invaded by the USA and her allies, Saddam Hussein was eventually captured and later executed. All these were done on the pretext that Saddam Hussein was having Weapons Of Mass Destruction (WMDs). But the whole world never got to know where those weapons were being kept in Iraq. In fact no WMDs have been found in Iraq up to date. The late ruler of Libya Muamar Gaddafi was once an avowed enemy of the west, he then became friendly towards them. But later events led to his country being bombarded by NATO after a rebel insurrection in the Libyan city of Bengazi. Syria is now paying dearly for refusing to do the bidding of the west in an ongoing civil war with the western powers trumpeting that Assad must leave power at all cost giving little room for any political solution. Innocent lives are being lost in a senseless war. I know for sure Iran would be the next stop for the western powers. They did it to Manuel Noriega of Panama, tried it on Fidel Castro of Cuba, but it never worked. So as the saying goes, "Beware of the Greeks when they come bearing gifts", these acts of friendship by the western powers might end up being a "Trojan Horse". We all have to be careful when entering into a friendship, because that friendship can turn into enmity tomorrow. Just be careful who you become friends with, it might later spell your doom.