Rot is on a whole new level after Sir Mekere's passing

CORRUPT MINISTERS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS ARE A MANACE TO STATE AND SOCIETY

 By Joesph Ketan

It was disheartening to read about the dismantling of a PNG bank by a corrupt Chair of the Board of Directors, following a newspaper story on the resignation of a Chair of a state entity ostensibly because he could not work with his government Minister, and a related story on the involvement of a Cabinet Minister with a bad reputation. Such stories represent the thin edge of the wedge of what Sir Mekere Morauta called systemic corruption in this country. The rot in government departments and state owned entities is crippling both state and society. Politicians are in bed with giant corporations. The apparent to-ing and fro-ing by politicians in yoyo fashion, coupled with the behind the scenes role played by the private sector in corrupting politicians, during the aborted vote of no confidence, showed us that something so terrible is controlling our political system. The ugly tentacles of corruption have spread to all government organizations. It will take some doing to get rid of this monster.

It was equally disturbing to see corrupt people praising the late Sir Mekere Moruata. Sir Mekere hated false praise. He detested corrupt politicians. Among those singing praises of him were some that he could not stand their presence. Yuambari Haihuie’s lament is worth quoting here: “Oh the ignominy, to be a statesman memorialized by scoundrels. In politics it is better to be a dead lion than a living dog”. The scoundrels shamelessly associated themselves with the great man, hoping to gain both kudos and goodness off him.

Corrupt politicians remind me of the African hyena. This scavenger of the African savannah plains has been described in various ways by influential writers like Aristotle and Hemingway. The hyena is “exceedingly fond of putrefied flesh”; a “hermaphroditic self-eating devourer of the dead”; and a “singular mixture of abject cowardice and the utmost ferocity.” One corrupt PNG politician closely resembles the hyena. Another reminds me of the jackal. No, not the master of disguise, the reclusive paid assassinator. Rather, it is cunning and resourceful omnivorous canine. Sacrificing personal integrity for power and wealth, the corrupt PNG politician assumes the qualities of both the jackal and the hyena. He is habitually predatory in his approach to life. Women, young or old, married or single, are there for his picking when he is prowling on the streets of Port Moresby, or on country lanes, or in the virtual jungle of the social media. Electoral development funds are his to be used at his discretion. Government resources are his to abuse with impunity.

The corrupt political appointee, usually an unsuccessful election candidate and glorified servant of the politician, goes an extra country mile in mimicking the extravagant lifestyle of the political master. The corrupt CEO or Board Chairman will entertain his friends and relatives at the Holiday Inn, install his latest girlfriend in a suite at the Stanley Hotel, collect commissions from contractors, will change vehicles monthly, and will take expensive holidays, all at the expense of the poor PNG tax payer.

Corrupt politicians and corrupt political appointees are a menace to state and society; they are destroying our state institutions; they are responsible for the moral decay in society.

It is my sincerest hope that the year 2021 will bring hope and happiness to our people, who must be getting sick and tired of the same old unpalatable diet of bad news.

I hope, too, that greater levels of scrutiny of our politicians and CEOs, as well as Chairs of Board, will bring greater levels of compliance. We can start this process of restoring integrity to our political system and the electoral process by voting out the most blatant of the corrupt politicians in 2022. Zero tolerance to corruption in Papua New Guinea from 2021 and beyond should be the approach to tackling this dreadful monster. That is how you take back a country from the criminals.