E-Kantipur

In the past, when this scribe headed different English language newspapers and sometimes attended diplomatic parties, two different European ambassadors on two different occasions had asked me what the new Nepali ambassadors to their respective countries did for a living. I had no answer as the newly appointed ambassadors were neither lawyers, doctors or civil servants, nor were they involved in business, commercial or industrial activities. They were much better off — they were political leaders who had dedicated their entire lives serving the people and for whom money seems to grow on trees.

Most — not all — of our political leaders seem to believe that once you make a name for yourself in politics, you don’t need to work to earn a living. (After all, once you become a minister, one earns more than what we would have earned honestly in 10 lifetimes.) What did G.P. Koirala do for a living? What did P.K. Dahal do for a living? And so on and so forth, including some of our human rights activists (unless our activists are paid with funds transmitted to Nepal by other rights organisations). One does not like to name names, but even a cursory glance at the way our politicians and activists of different shades live is enough to indicate just how unbalanced our political structure is, and how parasitic our leadership is.

The recent Maoist seizure of a vehicle being used by a UML leader, but belonging to one of the numerous government-owned agencies, corporations or authorities, would have been a commendable action if only such moves had been carried out against all those misusing public funds of all descriptions. The Maoist target of one single person who is seen to be a bit more anti-Maoist than others is a vengeful act rather than a generally well thought out action against misuse of vehicles belonging to the government or government-owned agencies. Cruising around in such automobiles is a sure sign of corruption in high places, and indicates the rut into which the political leadership has fallen. This has led to the present rush for power — and legalised corruption — in high places. 

The rush for power is seen more as a rush for gathering government freebies — legal and illegal — rather than a genuine move to help improve the lives of the people. The present talk of government changes and making one a prime minister and throwing out the other at a time when the making of the constitution is the primary task of the nation is nothing if not a desire on the part of the vying political parties to help their own political leaders and their cadres with money and also injecting large doses of immunity in their workers from legal action. Why else would political parties be interested in heading or participating in an interim government that has no ethical base other than overseeing the day-to-day administration of the country until a new government under a new constitution is elected?

The misuse of government property is nothing new. One wonders how many of our present-day leaders are using one or the other thing — mainly vehicles — belonging to the government or government-run agencies. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) was set up a long time ago and its main purpose, among others, is surely to check misuse of government property. Yet the CIAA has miserably failed to do this.

One does not have to go deep, but even a mere glance would suffice to show how our leaders have been transformed from a pauper to a prince overnight. Those who entered the Kathmandu Valley with almost nothing but the clothes they were wearing now have palatial buildings to their names. How did one amass the fortune to possess all that property? Did the CIAA ever bother to find out? Most of our leaders are living beyond their means. How do they do so? Has the CIAA — even if it does not take the necessary action — any dossiers on the corrupt practices our leaders indulge in when they attain positions of power?

Our leaders from the Panchayat days to the post-1990 days to the present are all known to have taken recourse to unfair means to amass wealth for themselves — and only incidentally for their workers. But thanks to our system — monarchy or republican — there is little possibility that they will ever be made accountable. Such illegal activities become crimes only when ordinary citizens like you and me indulge in them; never so when leaders do them.

The corruption in high places goes unchecked because independent constitutional bodies like the CIAA are filled by politicians with men and women who do not hesitate to say “yes” to their political bosses. The Maoists who seized the UML leader’s vehicle should be able to do the same to all the leaders who are presently wrongfully enjoying the use of government property irrespective of their political hues. Many senior Maoist leaders are going around not on bicycles or on foot, but in posh vehicles. It is only right to ask if these vehicles had been bought by them or had been given to them by the party (if so, how did the party get the funds to buy them), or do some of these vehicles belong to the government just like the UML leader’s did?

The corruption in one form or the other that begins at the top seeps down to the common people, and if there is a real desire on the part of our leaders to root out corruption, the place to start is themselves and nowhere else. A few political cadres taking “action” against one or the other of their political opponents that looks more like vengeance than genuine anti-corruption action will hardly put an end to the phenomenon like rampant misuse of the people’s money (after all, government resources are the people’s money). Occasional acts of vengeance in the name of prevention of misuse of government vehicles mean little or nothing to the people. They only heighten tension among the political parties. The political parties and their leaders need to be serious about prevention of misuse of government property in real terms. The onus lies on our leaders both in and out of power to prove that money does not grow on trees, and that it is indeed only hard and honest work that pays off in the end.

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