‘Our trust in our govt, rule of law, businesses needs to be re-established’

Corruption and economic uncertainty are key words today, making life in an ambiguous post pandemic world all the more difficult. It goes beyond inefficient regulations, red tape and government failure to bending the morality compass beyond recognition. It has seeped into all aspects of life wherein the shadows of hope that the common man was laying the foundations of their future stand razed to charr. The ongoing drama in the government has made it forget its purpose, its values, or even why it exists. Do people want to be ruled over or, have people chosen representatives from among us to enable decisions that will take the nation on a collective path of prosperity? Perhaps the politician has forgotten. I often think what is it about power that makes a human being so weak. What is it about the authority that so few can handle it? Why is ethical behaviour so easily compromised by those who have been elected on the promise of good deeds? What guides good governance? What drives the legal and regulatory framework? What allows this prevailing sense of impunity? If we cannot trust the integrity of our public institutions, if we cannot trust our financial institutions, if we cannot trust our politicians, we become a country of mistrust, a country whose stability becomes a question mark. Money meant to build roads and bridges, for medicines and hospitals, for schools and universities, has been pilfered to build a system that favours a few, and that has been funnelled to fuel private wealth with the misuse of power. We grappled with corruption even in humanitarian emergencies like the earthquake and the pandemic. Even in the face of lives being lost, deals were being made, delivery mechanisms were manipulated and young people had to take to the streets in protest to demand relief. Fraud, waste, abuse are synonymous with many public and a growing number of private mechanisms. Anti-corruption initiatives cannot be successful until and unless each citizen of the country demands it. We need to build an environment where people are not forced to sell their integrity to survive, to get things done. Our trust in our government, in the rule of law, in our institutions and businesses, and in each other needs to be re-established. At the onset, it will demand a strong political will and the capacity to implement necessary reforms that address the cause of corruption. It will also demand that each person makes conscious, enabling choices. It is what we can do together for one another. READ ALSO:

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