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Of Nnesa, war on corruption
Reading the front page story in last week’s edition of this paper on how the United Democratic Front (UDF) allegedly defrauded parastatals, one cannot help but admire George Nnesa’s candour and courage to walk the minefield that the issue of corruption is in Malawi.
I mean, here is somebody who not only has irrefutable evidence on the issue, but is also more than ready to provide the same to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)! What we see is a man who loves Malawi so much that he would rather lose everything he has than watch his country crumble under the vicious weight of this monster.
So, what do we, as a nation, do for this hero in appreciation for the invaluable service he has rendered to the country when many others with similar information have instead chosen to dip their fingers in the bag, swagger home and seal their lips?
It is only fair that we all bow our heads in reverence and salute this five-star soldier in the fight against corruption.
Trouble is, I see little, if any, in the story to suggest that the ‘hero’ is indeed one.
If my reading of the article is correct, Nnesa has not bumped into the information on the fraud today. From his own words, he discovered the anomalies at Shire Buslines in March last year when he was board chairman for the company.
But if he is really committed to combating corruption in the country as he wants us to believe, did it have to take him more than a year to come out into the open on the issue?
Mind you, the Mafunde president was not a sidekick or a non-entity at the company. Here was the whole chairman of the board, who, besides having access to the most confidential information about the organisation, had the muscle to shake some people around to provide convincing answers on the irregularities within defined deadlines.
If his efforts to squeeze information from those in the know failed, didn’t he have the option of walking to the nearest ACB offices and present the documentary evidence he claims to have?
The same goes for the information Nnesa claims to have about other parastatals like the Blantyre Water Board (BWB) and the defunct Malawi Development Corporation (MDC) which, he says, the UDF plundered. He could have tendered the information to the ACB there and then for the body to act.
The long and short of the issue is that, far from enhancing his CV as a selfless fighter of corruption, Nnesa has only succeeded in exposing himself as somebody who has not taken an unequivocal moral position on the problem.
In other words, Nnesa doesn’t come across as somebody who looks at corruption as an evil for what it is, only joining the anti-corruption bandwagon when it suits his political purpose.
The danger with this approach is that the definition of corruption becomes fluid, giving the problem good or bad names depending on whether or not fighting it gives or takes something away from our ambitions as politicians, businessmen and others.
And if BWB, Shire Buslines and other institutions are walking down the precipice because of fraud and corruption, those like Nnesa that have information on what was happening but have chosen to keep quiet are as much to blame for the mess as those who pillaged the organisations.
Indeed, why guard jealously information that would have helped the country get to the bottom of the problem and, therefore, rectify the situation?
By the way, what is Nnesa trying to tell us when he says he would proffer information on the fraud to the ACB when the time is right? What markers will the so-called right time have for him to know that he should now tell it all?
Besides, why does the time between when he discovered the information on the fraud and today not qualify as the right time to report the matter to the ACB?
To me, far from being an asset in our quest for a corruption-free country, Mr Nnesa and many others walking the same path are only ending up putting spanners in the works.
The fewer such people are, the better for the war on corruption.
Unfortunately, the country is littered with people whose opinions on issues like fraud change colours everyday, depending on who gets what from the vice. Don’t we see villains everyday dumping parties because they have been denied the opportunity to benefit from corrupt practices?
Which, obviously, means that if I was asked to say who my role model is, I would not, in heaven or hell, mention Mr Nnesa.
—Feedback:jjimu2000@yahoo.com
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