AMERICA DOES NOT WORK WITH THIEVES!!!! THE MESSAGE IS VERY CLEAR AND THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL TO KING NEBUCHADENEZAR (MWAI KIBAKI)
JK
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Like Kagame, Kikwete rejects corruption
The Monitor (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
19 February 2008
Posted to the web 19 February 2008
Tanzania over the weekend was showered with dollars by the United States of America. This was in appreciation of President Jakaya Kikwete’s resolve to fight corruption, which is unfortunately the way of governance in some African countries.
While signing away $700 million in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, US President George Bush did not cushion his remarks in diplomatic jargon and niceties. He stated bluntly that “America does not work with thieves.”
He could have added “anymore” because before the Cold War ended, the US supported kleptocrats like Field Marshal Mobutu who destroyed Zaire (now DR Congo).
But the time now is for concentrating on the present and the future. The reward of $700 million Tanzania has received from the Millenium Challenge Account will go towards supporting road works, electricity and water supplies. Announcing the cash reward, Mr Bush said, “You are a good man, Mr President, and I am proud to call you a friend.”
The hefty reward for rejecting corruption comes in the wake of the resignation of Tanzania’s Prime Minister whose name had been mentioned in a corruption scandal. One can say that it may not be a coincidence.
But whether the two developments are related is not the issue; what matters is that the US which has the money is convinced about the genuineness of Mr Kikwete when he says he is going to fight corruption.
Kikwete is not the first African president to convince the donors in recent years that he means business. Gen. Paul Kagame of Rwanda has so impressed the donors with his determination to run a clean administration that Kigali is now almost in position to choose which development partner to work with.
The example of the likes of Kagame and Kikwete should restore hope for Africa, that it is indeed possible for leaders to say ‘no’ to corruption; that a leader can part company with even the closest political associates in the interest of protecting national wealth; that leaders’ “relatives, friends and in-laws” can also be required to do honest work instead of
sponging off the sweat and toil of taxpayers at home and in donor countries.
As more leaders emulate Kagame and Kikwete, we shall start seeing an Africa where people do not have to blatantly rig elections in order to steal public funds while in office and to protect the already stolen wealth. It is indeed possible to govern without tolerating corruption.