By Tilly Barrie
I wouldn’t be able to mind my business with rotten rats under the carpets, sooner or later the stench will become unbearable and as a tax payer I guess I have some privileges without prejudicing anybody or anything.
One needs to speak the truth even if it brings the house down. People are not treating the system with seriousness and are blatantly not covering their “white yams”. Flamboyancy, peacock-style and one-in-town life style is common all over the town.
Money grabbing
It seems money-grabbing has become the order of the day in our society. Religious leaders, politicians, civil servants, public officers, businessmen, trade unionists and members of the armed forces display their wealth with impunity. God alone knows how this wealth is acquired. Our religious leaders who should advise us against the amassing of ill-gotten wealth have joined the band wagon “telling heaven to wait”.
The irony about this behavior is that the young and upcoming generation of young men and women copy it with complete disregard and disrespect for the public.
The good number of the young generation wants to be bankers, accountants, doctors and lawyers. Of course you and I know why. Those who cannot, resort to drug-trafficking or to criminal activities. They no longer regard joining the military as being lucrative because coups have become unfashionable.
Take a walk along the streets of Freetown and see luxurious vehicles plying the streets. Then move onto the Mountain Rural District, Peninsular Road, Spur Road, Spur View, Malama, IMATT, to name but a few, you will start to wander if the houses are guest houses or hotels.
Morals, dignity, standard and honesty have been replaced with the shameless competition to amass wealth.
In the very early days of the NPRC junta rule, Decree No. 6 was introduced to combat corruption. But it was quickly withdrawn because it was deemed witch-hunting. If the ACC actually unleashed its vent, at least six out of ten Sierra Leoneans will be caught in its net.
To keep tabs on the day-to-day occurrences, parliament is now and again enacting laws which are approved by the executive and to be implemented by the judiciary. But with all the preventive measures being put in place, there are sewer rats bent on digging holes all over the place for their selfish ends.
Let us take a close look into the activities of the 419ers and the helping hand of the Administrator General’s Department and their bankers. The Department has some explaining to do, as that is where all the mess we are now saddled with starts. It is equally responsible for all the land disputes, as they are the last to give approval for the ownership of land by the registration of all conveyances.
This is the institution responsible to register companies and I will not hesitate to say that these registrations are done haphazardly. Because there are no checks and balances at the Administrator General’s Department, the country is saddled with portfolio businessmen, fake groups of companies. It is not uncommon to see people who register up to five companies and more with different names, but with the same shareholders and same addresses.
The 419ers use these business certificates for bank transactions, to defraud the banks, to entice and to swindle investors thereby shamefully putting the country in the mess we are now experiencing. Many of the 419ers are sacred cows, as they are always in the company of those in power who they use as cover for their nefarious activities.
If the authorities really want to eradicate conflict of interest and wheeler-dealing, let them start their investigations at the Administrator General’s Department with a view to knowing the owners of all registered companies. This investigation might give rise to their banking activities and the role of the bankers in such activities.
Let us be mindful that the world out there is watching us as to how serious the authorities are treating these corrupt activities. The verdict of restitution and fine for corruption instead of a jail term is a mockery. Such is clearly not a good signal by the judiciary to the corrupt.
Gone are the days when employers preferred bankers as referees for applicants. To be honest to ourselves would be to say that a good number of bankers have lost their credibility, especially through the inexplicable standard of living of some of their colleagues. My last advice: do not hesitate to choose a farmer as your referee in applying for a job. After all he works hard to earn a living. And he is more honest than some of those you clamour for.
