Panel calls for review of corruption laws
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday April 30, 2014 11:27
Speaking during a panel discussion last Friday, First National Bank (FNB) branch manager, Lucky Bogopa said voting for parliamentary candidates should not mean an automatic vote for the president. That will be tantamount to imposing a president on the people as his election was not decided by the majority, said Bogopa. Bogopa observed that poverty is one of the reasons why corruption is on the rise.
He said poor political leadership is also a challenge and wondered how voters elect into office politicians who cannot take them anywhere. He said the same thing applies even in the private sector.
“Greed and lack of internal controls in organisations breed opportunities for corruption. Institutions must reassess themselves to see if there are internal controls in place,” he added.
Bogopa said effects of corruption include loss of public revenue, declining productivity, which affects Foreign Direct Investment, poor public image and that all these can lead to breakdown of public order.
He added that banks also experience a lot of corruption, but that they blacklist such employees after dismissing them.
He added that legislative deterrence as a way forward could be to introduce tougher laws, stiffer sentences and higher rate of convictions.
He added that good academic qualifications for holding political office and other senior positions could also address the situation.
The panel discussion heard that some civil servants go on retreats and spend money on throwing parties but account for it as having been spent on breakfast.
The panellists said the practice is treated as normal across government departments, though it is corrupt. They also noted that many high profile cases of corruption involving millions of Pula involve top officials.
They also stated that exchange of gifts for services rendered, abuse of resources, maladministration and failure to declare conflict of interest also amounts to corruption.
Selebi-Phikwe Police acting station commander Superintendent Goganang Pule said exchange of gifts for services rendered is corruption and warned that if it continues, then the country will suffer economic haemorrhage, which could lead to its demise.
He added that it is crucial for supervisors to detect corrupt conduct among employees.
The Selebi-Phikwe Town Council principal state counsel Phillip Mokone said corruption results when stipulated regulations are deliberately violated with the aim for personal gains.
He added that lack of evidence and statistical data does not mean absence of corruption and added that in extreme forms witnesses are killed and evidence destroyed.
He noted that it was not only civil servants involved in corruption but also members of the public.