Corruption becoming way of life

Dear judge Mbadwa,

I hear you were in a celebratory mood with the rest of the country not for the manner in which you subdued a melodramatic lower court magistrate who calamitously discharged a warrant of arrest from another lower court in the middle of the night, My Lord, but for another milestone that Nyasaland has attained.

It is not every day that Nyasaland’s exploits on the corruption perception front get global recognition as is the case now. How could we not be celebrating when it is alleged that bags full of money are being deposited into court’s chambers?

My Lord, remember that last year the Global Corruption Barometer had interesting revelations, clearly indicating what sort of corruption climate we were heralding.

That Global Corruption Barometer said that the perception of people who think that magistrates and judges are corrupt was at 41 percent from 22 in 2015.

Now there is more cause for worry because the 2019 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index has shown that Nyasaland has dropped by three places to 123 out of 180 ranked countries.

Now my rudimentary analysis tells me that if perception of people who think that magistrates and judges are corrupt was at 41 percent before the latest fiasco that has befallen the Judiciary, then the perception that magistrates and judges are corrupt should be above 50 percent; not any good news.

My Lord, I have always regarded you, the honourable judge of The Tribunal, as one of the few judicial officers with integrity remaining.

My Lord, I hear others might be arguing that a perception is just that—what people think—and not the whole truth. Well and good, but it shows that the majority of the Nyasas do not have confidence in our courts just as they can no longer trust politicians.

My Lord, I hope to see you celebrating this jump at your next Sherry Party after all an achievement is an achievement whether positive or negative.

This is a country which, without due diligence procured obsolete oxcart-driven ploughs christened tractors from Gujarati, let them rot a bit before giving them away to selected individuals. When queried by the vigilant Ombudsman, all that was offered were loads and loads of rebuttals only to wake up another day with an apology. Admission of guilt was there but nobody wants to take responsibility, really?

My Lord, this is a country where cases of corruption involving the big fish never take off but the riffraff are jailed with speed every time they find themselves on the wrong side of the law, for stealing chickens, for instance.

Look, some health personnel even make you to pay to get free treatment at a public hospital including to have blood transfused to someone in need of it.

I don’t have to mention service providers that have become synonymous with corruption for the obvious reasons.

My Lord, it is acts like these that are feeding into the perception that corruption is permeating every sector of society like a virus.

That the country is failing to tackle corruption is all there is and the word integrity barely exists in execution of normal business.

But I heard somebody carelessly say that they are implementing a zero-tolerance policy against corruption in Nyasaland.

Are we talking of the same country? These are the people you should have a chat with in your chamber, my Lord, after summoning them for spewing out lies to the nation.

Regards,

John Citizen

With Emmanuel LucianoFeedback: whatsapp 09 99 253 633