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Grand corruption torments Bunge!

The Biblical teachings have a very touchy parable in which Jesus told the crowd after a lady was brought before him accused of fornication. He challenged them, “Whoever has never committed this sin should be the first one to cast a stone against this lady.” We are told, all her accusers disappeared.

This takes me back to the state of our country how it has been immersed in grand corruption. If that same question would have been imposed to our people today, nobody will disappear like those Pharisees rather, they would throw those stones either slowly or aimlessly to avoid reaching or purposely missing the target. This would be seen as a bold action of how corruption has been institutionalised in our society!

Everywhere the talk is on corruption! Last week in Dodoma on the ongoing Parliamentary session, the sky was almost falling down as we heard on the allegations how some of our parliamentarians were involved in corruption. It was mudslinging at each other and as the days go on more revelations are coming in. The first whistle blower was Honourable David Kafulila   when last year he cried foul that some members of his Committee Chaired by Dr. Mrema were asking for bribes from officials whom they were probing into their financial reports.

Kafulila was not heard rather was seen as cantankerous character. I strongly believe that should he be taken seriously on his allegations, we would have not reached to this stage as the saying goes, spare the rod spoil the child. Neither the Speaker nor members of the parliament were interested in following up these allegations. Then the whole of last year, the build up of corrupt tendencies gained momentum in the parliament to the extent of one Member of Parliament to be arrested early this year on allegations of corruption.

As if nothing had happened, the Parliament decided to hide under the facade of ‘cases being at the court of law should not be spoken of.’ This, in a way undermines the efforts of combating corruption rather than embracing it. The action of dissolving one of the parliamentary committees whose some members are alleged to have been involved in corruption is commendable though belated.

It appears some political parties whose members are alleged to have been involved in either doing business with TANESCO or involved in any form of corruption would conduct internal investigations and punitive steps would be taken. Yet the demand is so big to dissolve all other Parliamentary Committees which are also stinking of corruption. I am made to believe that the new administration of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals under Professor Sospeter Muhongo has made it possible for all these corrupt tendencies to come out to the open.

Can you believe that the fake importation of electricity poles and abstract power blackout is a new practice which was not there in the former administration? As pointed out by different voices, there should be a thorough forensic investigation on all these allegations so as to spot out who is who in this saga, and deterrent action would follow to stop this rot from recurring. It is indeed a turnaround of events on how the Ministry of Energy and Minerals was on the spotlight last year comparable to this budget session.

Last year during the budget session it was intercepted by the same Parliament that millions of shillings would have been used in Dodoma to palm-grease members of parliament in order to pass through the controversial ministry’s budgetary statement. However, following the refusal by the then January Makamba’s committee on Energy and Minerals to be bribed, the beans spread further yet nothing concrete was taken apart from the tripartite ‘wise men’ of Utouh, Jairo and Luhanjo to camouflage the whole saga.

It is not publicly known as to what the final verdict of Jairo’s case was! No wonder members of parliament are quiet! It appears that every important sector of our country has been penetrated by this bug - corruption. Yes, currently we have some former ministers who have been arraigned before the court of law to answer cases on corruption they committed while in office. Custodian of our finance, the Central Bank was the centre of grand corruption on EPA and the twin tower building. The Judiciary has not been spared either.

It has been singled out in one of the reports indicating the most corrupt institutions which included Judiciary, Police and Prisons. For legislature, it is now their turn. There have been some allegations that some members of the parliament particularly those in
the Oversight Parliamentary Committees are being bribed so as to protect those on the wrong side. Not only that but also one of the Parliamentary Committees had failed to reach its quorums in some of their meetings after allegations of corruptions were levelled against it.

It should be known that the role of our parliamentarians is to examine and challenge the government by scrutinizing through debates and passing laws. Through the parliament it is possible to create different Oversight Parliamentary Committees which do
the spade work in investigative work, questioning ministers when need arises. If this noble work of parliamentarians is compromised by corruption; then what is the implication?

This is the question old party veterans like Mzee Malecela keeps on pondering! Who can stop me from thinking that if not all but some of our Laws or budgets must have gone through this wicked way? We need more of Muhongo’s to come clean in their ministries.

At least there is light at the end of the tunnel if we have ministers like Magufuli, Mngimwa, Kigoda, Tibaijuka, Mwakyembe and more others. Let’s fight together to demolishthis ugly face of corruption which is in the very fibre of our flesh, threatening the survival of our country. God Bless!

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