Fellow countrymen, it gives me great pleasure whenever I address the nation on matters that are so pertinent. I am going to address the issue of high levels of corruption that has become so rampant. As a nation, our reputation and future success are critically dependent on compliance, not just with the law but also with our own very high standards. A good name of integrity comes after a very long and difficult struggle but can ruin within a second as a result of a single instance of corrupt dealings (Rose-Ackerman 78).
Today, I will put more emphasis on political corruption. In this age, all things are controlled by the decisions made by a few powerful people in any society, which are mostly the politicians controlling the government. They resort to misuse power for personal gains such as money, luxuries, or even more power (Mauro 1801). This deprives us of opportunities to thrive in efforts to building the nation. I am saddened by the widening gap between the poor and the rich. Our traders and the government are all involved in corruption and has become a give-and-take deal. Corruption leads to the destruction of a person’s morals and ethics and would increase people’s hatred towards that person. A significant example of political corruption is when Member of Parliament increases their salaries while ignoring the cries citizens languishing in poverty. It is time for us all to start paying attention to these issues and understand that we must fight corruption to end these miserable issues upon our people and slay the dragon of poverty.
Corrupted people must suffer the consequences of their actions. They should be punished according to the corruption crimes codes. The government and the media are doing their best to expose those corrupt. For instance, four personnel have been identified with corruption in the past two months. They include a minister, deputy minister, permanent secretary and head of a government corporation have been dismissed. Also, they were arrested and charged appropriately. I believe that change comes from within us. If we are willing to step up the fight against corruption, we should take initiatives, make sacrifices, and perhaps try to influence people and future generations to put pressure in the face of corruption. I thank the media and the civil societies that have kept a vigilant eye on the government. Our newspapers and televisions’ are candidly revealing hidden cases of corruption. Such kind of reporting is exerting pressure and drawing attention to these cases. The demonstrations by civil societies have proved to be effective methods and as I stated earlier, it’s all about making sacrifices and initiatives towards these methods, to eliminate corruption.
The foreign interference and influence on our country’s media and press should be condemned. I have and will always remain tolerant to help strengthen the media in our country. It is the role of the media to investigate and expose the corrupt leaders that will save this country from corruption. This move will make government officials cautious about corruption for fear of exposure. In all this, my government will keep supporting the media.
It is because of patriotism, honesty, and sincerity that I urge all us to take the initiative and fight corruption. To enhance this integrity our media and press should be protected from any foreign interference. As the president of this beloved country, I am in favor of the freedom of the media. Our media ought to be free and self-regulating (Brunetti et al 278). There is a very high foreign influence on our media and some of them are built with foreign money. This inopportune financing should be controlled. I am certain that we will pursue it to our level best with great sincerity and patriotism. We have put in place an anti-corruption commission and appointed a competent man to spearhead it. Such an important department will help us eliminate corruption in this country. By these few remarks, I assure you of all of our commitment to the fight against corruption. Thank you and May Almighty God bless!
Works Cited
Brunetti, Ayamo, and Beatrice. Weder. “A free press is bad news for corruption.” Journal of Public Economics 87,2003: 1801-1824
Mauro, Paolo. “Corruption and the Composition of Government Expenditure,” Journal of Public Economics VOL. 69, 1998, 263-279
Rose-Ackerman, Susan. Corruption and Government. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999.