Thoughts from London

Catching sprats while sharks swim merrily
Brave words indeed. But do sympathise with the poor chap, the Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Bribery and Corruption.
Director-General Piyasena Ranasinghe seems to think that he could seriously go after bigwigs who have been up to no good, filling their pockets (or rather much bigger receptacles sometimes called safety deposit boxes in foreign banks) with assorted currencies and other such scraps of paper.

Every time those who lord over us making our lives increasingly miserable, take a simple organisation and give it a high sounding title one could be certain they are trying to reduce an already lifeless institution into total impotency.

In the old days we had an ordinary body called the Bribery Commission. Bad enough it was mostly ineffectual because that is what the governing politicians wanted it to be so that they and their cronies would not fall into its net.

Then a few years ago, these bodies were given new titles and so was born the Commission to Investigate Bribery and Corruption, which, despite all the trumpet-blowing and flag-waving with which it was set up, lay dormant for much of its time because it was short of a commissioner. Imagine that. In this whole country -- okay so leave Prabhaland out of it -- they could not find one single person fit enough to fill this vacancy.
So much for the commitment of our beloved leaders to eradicate bribery and corruption. It is not that this country did not have people worthy of such a position. Rather this country was devoid of leaders worthy enough to serve the nation.

Like charity, it could well be that bribery and corruption begin at home.
Now, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with these bloated titles with equally bloated designations attached to their officials, if it was going to make a perceptible difference to the canker of bribery and corruption that has become endemic in our society.

No, it was all flummery meant to mislead the people while our politicians, their kith and kin and cronies sold the assets of this country or shared in the spoils.

Ask yourself whether bribery and corruption are on the decline in this paradise or more and more people --- from politicians to bureaucrats, security service personnel and numerous others -- are still not on the take.

Be truthful. Have we seen a decline in this blight that has turned this country into one of the most corrupt societies in the world?
If you answer yes, then you must be living in cuckooland and deserve what you get. To get anything done in this country -- from grama sevakas putting a signature on a piece of paper to having a housing plan passed or a hora passport obtained without vital supporting documents, something has to change hands. And it certainly isn't a packet of cream crackers.
An interview with the anti-bribery boss in our sister paper the Daily Mirror earlier this month was headlined "We will not spare bigwigs says Bribery chief."

How many heads before him had sung the same song though the lyrics might not always have been mellifluous? Those bribery bosses, if one might call them that, have been put to pasture or passed on.

But the bigwigs they threatened to put beyond the pale of gratifications and out of reach of bribe givers not only continue in their merry way but have grown enormously in numbers, not to mention wealth.

There is many a slip between the cup and the lip as the poet said. But you cannot really blame Director-General Ranasinghe or some of his predecessors in this thankless job where politicians and officials protect their own.

Over the years how many ministers, politicians and other high-ranking officials have been caught for bribery and corruption and been convicted. You could probably count them on the fingers of your two hands -- well one hand would do really.

Is that because our ministers over the years and other politicians have been so honest that it would be sacrilege to taint them with the faintest accusations of corruption?

It would be a bold or brash person who would publicly acclaim that this country is free of political corruption or bribery.

In the last two months I have spent several weeks in Sri Lanka and met people of different political hues and others who are apolitical but hold strong views. Opinions I have held for some time that politicians are viewed as disposal as last week's garbage have been further reinforced during this time.

If there is any debate at all it is on which bunch are the greater crooks and the reasons why politicians cross sides so often.
If the stories that are doing the rounds in Colombo have a modicum of truth they are a serious indictment on our political establishment in general.

Interestingly, the Indian news magazine "India Today" in a special issue last month interviewed young articulate and educated Indians on a variety of issues.

Questioned about the greatest ill facing India today, 68 % said it was corruption. At the same time one third of them said they would bribe to get work done.

Thinking here among the young may not be far different from that of the Indian youth who realise that bribery and corruption among politicians, bureaucracy and the business community are standing in the way of creating an honest society and would like to cleanse India of them. If President Mahinda Rajapaksa wishes to go down in the books as one who made corruption not poverty history, it is time he looked at how the rules and regulations governing the conduct of politicians in particular, could be strengthened.

He has been looking at the political settlement in Northern Ireland as a possible solution to our own conflict. It would be equally useful if he takes a look at how ministers, MPs and even those politicians holding office in local bodies and quangos are made accountable.

If ministers or any other persons in office accepted gifts or any financial assistance, including holidays spent with business people or just friends they are duty bound to state so in the members register at the House of Commons.

The other day a media report suggested that some private individual had paid Enterprise Development Minister Rohitha Bogollagama's hotel bill at the Geneva Hilton after President Rajapakse decided the government would not do so.

If indeed some private individual did pay it, he must disclose who it was and why he came to make such payment. Had it been in the UK he would have had to declare this in the register as it is also important to see there is no conflict of interest. This kind of accountability is insisted on to ensure that politicians are clean and governments are not tainted by political dregs.

We need to cleanse politics, the bureaucracy and business of the corruption that has crept into various layers of society. It would be the wisest, and certainly the morally responsible thing to do, if it started at the political level. Let us have a parliamentary ombudsman like in the UK and let ministers, MPs, advisers and others declare all their assets and make such declarations available for public scrutiny.

It might not be the perfect thing. But at least it would be a start until the rules are tightened up and the conduct of individuals is closely scrutinised.
As they say, it takes two to tango. There cannot be bribe takers without bribe givers. Go after the bribe givers too.

Back to Columns