Corruption is deeply rooted

THIS may sound like a negative and harsh view of the current state of affairs in Papua New Guinea but sometimes we all need a collective wake-up call.
Maybe for some, it is a tough spoonful of medicine to swallow but PNG is considered as a corrupt nation and this is a fact we cannot escape from.
We do not need a report or an international classification to tell us all is not well in PNG.
We see it every day and most of us, whether we know it or not, participate, enable and encourage corruption, graft and theft and all manner of activities that contribute to the mismanagement, misuse and breakdown of services, goods and ultimately the society we like to call among other things, Christian and peace-loving. The proof that PNG is a corrupt nation with regards to development and the standard of living is laid out in our newspapers almost daily.
If there isn’t a political leader facing questions on his conduct and use of tax payers’ money, there is a commotion over the way the Government is handling an issue during parliament sittings.
Government departments are no better.
The instances of abuse of power by public servants are rife and continue unabated even though the country has courts and a police force to investigate and punish guilty individuals.
But here is the reason why the country is stalled in such a self-defeating cycle of stalled progress and “what ifs” and “what could have beens”. We as a people have a culture and an attitude that perpetuates corruption.
The conditions are practically optimal for white collar crime.
We have a police force that has proven inadequate, compounded by a correctional service that is in need of refitting – both in personnel and administrative capability, a court system which struggles to cope with a never ending procession of cases, but most importantly we have a government that cannot fund these institutions to the level required to act as a real deterrent to lawbreakers.
And then we have the cultural aspect that enables corruption or morally questionable acts.
Papua New Guineans tend to take care of their own.
This is good and bad.
It’s good because we have a sense of identity and belonging and it gives us pride in who we are but it is bad because more often than not this comes at the expense of the greater good – a concept which many in the country have yet to grasp.
Nepotism, wantokism, cronism, all these terms describe the causes of corruption when cultural values are put ahead of morals and proper conduct.
Money being diverted to unbudgeted or unplanned expenses by department heads at the behest of politicians is a common complaint across the board.
Money put in the hands of MPs without strict accountability or in a transparent fashion only creates the possibility for abuse and misuse.
Some might say that we are no different from any other country when it comes to the issue but where does it say we have to accept the situation and not do anything about it?
The checks and balances are there however they are rendered powerless because of a lack of will to follow through on the part of agencies.