The Wealth of Nations.
Adam Smith
‘It is the highest impertinence and presumption in kings and ministers, to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense. They are themselves always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society. Let them look well after their own expense, and they may safely trust private people with theirs. If their own extravagance does ruin the state, then that of their subjects never will’.
Kleptocracy in Africa
Samson C. Agbelengor
But for the positive, Africa is experiencing new developments and reforms today. Democracy is growing well and even causing great revolutions such as the recent Arab spring in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, although they came with a painful cost. Institutions are also gradually shifting from 'strongmen' into laws and ideal bureaucratic structures.
Although democracy has been tested and tried as a best form of government for the people among the other forms; what will happen if our leaders hide under the umbrella of democracy and become kleptocratic. What will happen if African democrats become kleptocrats by draining tax payer's monies and putting them in their personal international bank accounts? Mobutu of former Zaire did same when he was in power. It was even alleged that the former Zairian president was richer that his own country. The resource that emerges out of a democratic regime is for the people and must be used to promote their welfare.
Africa is recovering from the darkness of post-colonialism into the shining light of a democratic welfare state. Every African leader must be ready to promote that course. Africa indeed needs a better postcolonial legacy. A postcolonial legacy that will promote democrats and not kleptocrats─ a form of leadership that will put the welfare of its people first before any other thing─ a solid heritage that will bring back the sanity of pre-colonial Africa in the face of secularization and the endorsement of probity, responsibility, accountability and the rule of law in the face of liberalization. African leadership need to change, African people need a better thinking and living. African militants need to be baptized with pan-africanism in order to save them from the intoxication and hypnotization of militancy and 'rebelism'. (The emphasis here is on the Toure rebels, Al Shabaab, Boko-Haram etc.)
Africa needs no Kleptocracy in this present democratic revolution 'because democratic Kleptocracy will only hamper development'. It will only confiscate the resources of the masses and illegally hand it to the few oligarchic rulers.
Democratic Kleptocracy must go to jail. Democratic Kleptocracy must be given a life sentence in prison. Africa must vote against any kleptocratic form of government found among the member states. Ghana need to vote against Kleptocratic government in any general election, Nigeria must vote against it, South Africa, Ivory Coast, and Egypt among others. Democratic Kleptocracy must be voted out of Ecowas, AU and even in the UN!!! Africa must vote against Kleptocracy because Kleptocracy in democracy or even in autocracy will only deepen African woes of dependency and forever hamper our development.
From Democracy to Kleptocracy: South Africa under the leadership of Jacob Zuma
MyNews24
16 December 2015
Without going any further with this piece, let me speak about the removal of Mr Nhlanhla Nene as the Minister of Finance as well as his replacement(s) which has been irresponsible and nonsensical decision which has turned our country into a field of comedy club. It is indispensable to highlight to the president that the problem was never about who replaces Nhlanhla Nene as the Minister of Finance important as it was. However, the really dilemma is more about the level of mediocrity, lack of professionalism, personalization of political matters as well as lack of consultation and openness demonstrated by president Jacob Zuma in the process of removing Nhlanhla Nene as the finance Minister. The lack of consultation with regards to the decision taken by the president to remove Mr Nene as the finance minister demonstrated not only dictatorship but the transition of our country from Democracy to Kleptocracy as well. In a democratic society decisions are not solely taken individually on the basis of anger, anguish vendetta as well as sorrow, but they are taken in solidarity to enhance positive working relationships that promote social progress. Thus, understanding the views of others leads to greater co-operation as well as trust as opposed to violence as well as criticism.
In advancing my point, let me explain Kleptocracy. Politically speaking, Kleptocracy is described as a regime where the state is controlled and run for the benefit of an individual, or a small group, who utilize their power to transfer a large fraction/proportion of society’s resources and wealthy to benefit themselves. This has been proven in many instances whereby the president has consumed taxpayer’s money for his own benefits. With Kleptocracy on the upper hand, we have seen the dominance of neo-liberal policies in place within our society, whereby the nation’s resources are centralized at the hand of the powerful. This system has exacerbated greed, bitterness as well as resentment of powerful man who are afraid and reluctant to see human progress. Under this political regime, we have seen the absence of humanity which has brought animosity as well as anger from the powerful individuals to pursuer capital as well as profit accumulation at the expanse of the poor. Instead of seeing politics as the contest among people who have clear and stable interests to develop strategies that aims to pursue selflessness struggle for democratic continuation, we have seen a vision of politics as a struggle for power, dictatorship, vigorous capital accumulation permits rising profits for powerful individuals and control amongst people who are motivated by a myriad of ideas. These ideas do not only include their perceived interests, but also their immoral ideals, their pride and so on.
Thus, let me just highlights few issues to support the prevailing statement I made at the beginning with regards to the doctrine of Kleptocracy as well as dictatorship. On the issue Nkandla upgrade, the report by the Public Protectors demonstrated that the president benefited “unduly” to the upgrade of his private residence. As stated above that, in Kleptocracy regime “large proportion of the societal wealthy is used for individual benefits”. The president remained mute with regards to paying some proportion of the money which was ill-spent at his private residence. This leaves the society in limbo and questioning that: will social justice and human rights be ever attained in our beautiful county. The removal of Mr Nene comes after his reluctance to approve on the estimated R1 trillion nuclear deal as well as his reluctance to buy him a private Jet which was meant to benefit the president. This has been harmful on the economic performance, judging on the basis of economic performance from the perspective of the interests our currency.
This also proves that the president has carelessly and unthoughtfully refined as well as sophisticated democratic system in the promotion of Kleptocracy for transforming the public resources of South Africa into private wealth. As the results we saw the removal of Mr Nene, the president wanted to implement highly inefficient economic policies, expropriate the wealth of the citizens, and use the proceeds for his own glorification as well as consumption. Thus, this demonstrates that democracy has been disregarded in the rise of kleptocracy. This system has mounted to nothing but enabling a society to be organised in such a fashion that powerful individuals dominate wealthy as well as determine the happiness of the poor. This prevailing system has outlived its harsh youth and matured into a civilized form while democracy becomes outmoded. The powerful individuals seek self-fulfilment which is generated from a tremendous prosperity of the labor power of the poor. I wish our president can learn from John Magufuli, the Tanzanian president “the man of the moment in Africa, the person who dedicated himself on public interest like the late president of Burkina Faso Thomas Sankara” has ban the disgustingly conspicuous and gluttonous consumption of the taxpayer’s money, on unnecessary activities.
As Newton's third law states “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”, there are plenty consequences of this immoral as well as inhuman system, immiseration of the people; enrichment of Zuma and his collaborators; destruction of the nation's infrastructure; the transformation of South Africa into the prime staging ground for foreign intervention against other African nations; currency instability, the usage of the resulting tax revenue as well as the rents from natural resources and potential foreign aid from outside donors for his own consumption. In all these cases, this regime has appeared to have been disastrous to the economic performance and causes the impoverishment of the citizens. This presents empirical evidence that the lingering failure of the development projects in South Africa is not only necessarily associated with the character as well as the attitude of the pre-1994 political regime but it is also rooted in the post-independence political class, which promoted nothing but greedy and materialistic rulers who have looted the massive resources as well as wealthy of the country for their own benefits leaving the people poor, vulnerable as well as desperate. Furthermore, corruption has permeated the political elite and became one of the biggest impediments obstructing South Africans from realising their objectives
The current political regime has drastically changed how states operate. I hope now the South African patriots have come to realization that the development challenges of our country are deeper than poor infrastructural capital, low income, falling trade shares, low savings, slow growth, high inequality, uneven access to resources, social exclusion, insecurity, environmental degradation, HIV/AIDS pandemic, among others but they are deeply rooted without the politics itself. As a result, the failure to help the poor cannot be remedied by electing better politicians or hiring more informed bureaucrats alone, but is the inevitable result of transformation of the perversities built in the current political doctrine. Without changing the system itself which have proven to have barricaded humanity as well as selflessness, mankind will cease to exist. We are the victim of the political system that made the one whom we voted for enjoys torture, self-centeredness as well as evil. Again, we have seen that the key to progress lies within our voice as well as activeness in the capacity and willingness of patriots from different perspectives to constructively engage each other’s differing perspectives around the common goal of advancing understanding.
We have seen this year that towards a greater political stability, economic freedom as well as co-operation, remains a cauldron of instability and economic deprivation enforced by those who possess power which we have capacity as well as ability through mass solidarity to challenge and abolish. To all the comrade and patriots out there I am saying we have a choice to choose to continue to serve the current political system which has proven to be disastrous to our economy, social existence, as well as environmental aspect of life until there is no memory of human existence remains or to transform the system to achieve democracy. The patriots must rise up and hold the rulers to account through proper governance mechanisms that will ensure accountability, openness, consultation as well as transparent management of national resources.
The Route to Kleptocracy
Paul Trewhela
15 May 2016
Paul Trewhela writes on the relevance of Stephen Ellis' book 'This Present Darkness: A History of Nigerian Organised Crime' for SA. Paul Trewhela edited MK’s underground newspaper, Freedom Fighter, during the Rivonia Trial, and was a political prisoner from 1964 to 1967
When power rests on ability to pay bribes
With its intensive focus on state capture and the toxic relations between politicians and crime, the new and last book by the acclaimed historian and rigorous researcher Stephen Ellis is a clear and urgent warning to South Africans to deal with home-grown corruption.
The book also provides detailed information about how South Africa became a “key site” for Nigerian fraudsters, beginning even before the transition from apartheid in 1994.
Ellis, the Desmond Tutu professor in social sciences at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, completed This Present Darkness: A History of Nigerian Organised Crime, from his sickbed. He died aged 62, from cancer in July.
Ellis was also the author of two major studies of the ANC in exile, most recently External Mission: The ANC in Exile (2012), which remains a classic on its subject.
Rigorously sourced (references make up 45 pages at the back of the book), Ellis’ special concern in This Present Darkness is to try to identify how the culture of organised crime arose historically in Nigeria from its particular social, cultural, political and – of major interest to him – religious history.
Notably, he provides a detailed picture of the colonial experience of indirect rule, which he says must be understood in order to understand the origin of later practices of organised crime and corruption in Nigeria.
Doubtless, a reason why Nobel Prize-winner, Wole Soyinka, as Ellis reports, described the formation of the Nigerian character as “an incongruous juxtaposition of tragedy and the parody of real life”.
While Ellis is at pains to stress that there are many Nigerians who do not engage in criminal activity, he writes that “everyone who has grown up in Nigeria has acquired a deep experience of pervasive state corruption. Practices of deception are simply a fact of life, like malaria…”
More than 50 years ago, he notes, the situation was such that one Nigerian writer thought the idea that “the attainment of material riches is the supreme object of human endeavor” was so widespread it “largely pervades Nigerian society”.
Ellis also cites the Polish-British sociologist, Stanislav Andreski, who invented the term “kleptocracy” to describe the system of government he found in Nigeria in the early 1960s.
The essence of kleptocracy, according to Andreski, is when the functioning of the organs of authority “is determined by the mechanisms of supply and demand rather than the laws and regulations”.
Even in the period immediately after independence in 1960, Andreski wrote, Nigeria was “the most perfect example of kleptocracy”, since “power itself rested on the ability to bribe”.
In other words, money rules – not the democratic authority of the people expressed in laws made in the national assembly by the people’s elected representatives, and enforced by public authorities held to account by parliament and the courts.
Ellis notes how Nigeria’s oil minister said in 1984 that the country had lost $16-billion (R242-billion) of oil revenues in the previous five years, the result of fraud carried out by an “international mafia” – about a fifth of its oil revenue.
According to the minister, crude oil was being diverted at sea by senior officials who received payment in dollars. Oil was also being sold illegally by officials of the government’s oil company, the NNPC. Products from Nigeria’s own refineries were being diverted to foreign ships for sale abroad – a process known as “bunkering”.
Ellis writes that in South Africa, Nigerian scammers “even managed to defraud the apartheid intelligence service, the National Intelligence Service, to the tune of R1.9-million, as its director sheepishly told his parliament’s public accounts committee”.
By 2009, he writes, South Africa was “a major centre for Nigerian fraudsters, some of whom had managed to bribe officials at the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office. Nigerian scammers were able to mimic leading companies and, for example, to receive tax refunds from fake accounts and to intercept cheques”.
The book has received top-level international attention, with an excerpt about the Nigerian-invented “Four One Nine” scam published online this week by the US journal, Newsweek.
Ellis places his final emphasis on the global nature of modern organised crime which, he writes, has shown itself “very successful – perhaps even more so than multinational businesses – in integrating local identities and practices into organisations with a global reach. Nowhere illustrates this better than Nigeria”.
The book was released last week – one week before a summit on global corruption opened in London attended by representatives of more than 40 states, including very prominently, the president of Nigeria, former General Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari was voted into power on an anti-corruption ticket.
This week, Nigeria was listed at place 136 out of 168 on a global corruption index compiled by Transparency International, with Zimbabwe even lower down the scale at 150, and Somalia one from the bottom at 167.
Oil-rich Angola, ruled by the MPLA, and a main base of the ANC in exile between 1977 and 1988, was placed by Transparency International among the most corrupt states in the world, at 163. One in six children in Angola die before the age of five, it reported, making Angola the “deadliest place in the world” to be a child.
A review in the Financial Times (London) last weekend noted that Ellis “provides little succor for those Nigerians who would prefer to see their country cast in a brighter light. To paraphrase his thesis, a gangster state tends to breed gangsters. Reading between the lines, however, This Present Darkness offers an alternative future in which the ingenuity and commercial acumen of Nigerians could be turned to far more positive, productive use”.
That is a question for Nigerians.
South Africans will find much in This Present Darkness that rings familiar. The question they must answer is how to claim democratic control of this society, so that it does not travel down a similar route to kleptocracy.
That is a mode of government and society that could not be further from the ideals of the founders of modern South Africa, or the principle of the Freedom Charter that “The people shall govern!”