President Netumbo Nandi- Ndaitwah’s “…not business as usual…” mantra is catching on fast. For one, the public service is in delivery mode. 

Accountability and transparency have become buzz words, and projects and programmes are being rolled out as planned. It boggles the mind why people must be pushed to the limits to do exactly what they are employed to do. 

But perhaps what stands out is the intensified clamp down on any form of corruption by bringing culprits to book. The recent clampdown on corruption in the country, in the right dose, could be just what the doctor ordered. One would hasten to note and appreciate that the fight against corruption does not start with the arrest of those implicated, but it is an intricate process that is preceded by intensive investigations. 

But the untrained eye sees arrests – which is normally the climax of the investigations – as the proof of the pudding. 

And the untrained eye seems satisfied. It is contented. And that is good, a happy citizen, a happy country. 

Corruption has a debilitating effect on the lives of thousands of people around Namibia. And usually, it’s the most vulnerable members of society that are hardest hit. It is those desperate for vital government services in the remotest part of the country that suffer the most. 

Simply put – in most cases – the stolen resources are meant to improve the lives of those drowning in the deep ocean of poverty. 

When drought relief food does not reach the beneficiaries because some unscrupulous administrators have helped themselves to it, families could be shattered as lives could be lost to hunger. 

And all for what? The benefit of a few individuals who, despite being well-paid for the job they do, decide to enrich themselves by targeting vital food stuffs destined for the vulnerable members of society. 

It is not just the large-scale looting of state resources that qualifies as corruption; but any act that is done by bypassing set processes and systems is corruption and should be emphatically dealt with. Nandi-Ndaitwah has classified corruption as treason. 

Quoting Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s founding president, anti-colonial revolutionary, and political theorist, Nandi-Ndaitwah in her inauguration speech, said she agrees with his notion, adding that corruption can lead to frustration which will ignite citizens to overthrow the government. 

Wise words indeed from the country’s president, signalling her resolve to tackle corruption at its very roots. 

And this is not coincidence that she is quoting from Nyerere – ideologically an African nationalist and socialist who promoted a political philosophy known as Ujamaa. Corruption persists relentlessly despite efforts of government, and international bodies such as the United Nations, various institutes, NGOs and specialized units to eliminate it. 

The local media is flooded with reports of corruption at all levels of the public sector. 

Accountability and transparency should be the hallmark of our democracy; hence no public institution should be spared from being accountable. 

Rampant graft has turned many developing countries into kleptocratic states where extreme poverty and undermining of democracy are the order of the day. 

There must be accountability to give confidence to taxpayers that their tax money is utilised in the most beneficial manner. 

Politicians and lawmakers must also be mindful of the fact that they will pay through the currency of losing the trust of their citizens if they continue to pay lip-service to corruption. 

Surely when the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary make an example of those involved in corruption, such cannot be viewed in the wrong. The spirit of selfishness, greed and self-enrichment must fall, and it must fall now. 

Thus, the fight against corruption requires those in charge of institutions, ministries, government and private agencies to lead from the front by flagging and rooting out corrupt activities at their doorstep. 

No one is more entitled to state resources that the next person. Do the right thing. Do it right, do it well and the world will be a happy place for all and sundry. 

We will all live happily ever after; our own fairy tale turned reality. 

Let’s stop corruption in its track, it’s bad news everywhere!