When the parliamentary expenses scandal in the United Kingdom hit the headlines, there were negative reactions from all interested in the former colonial power’s affairs.
Among others, I watched with rapt attention the British media’s reporting of the issue, which first came to light in an article in the Daily Telegraph, and prompted the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin.
It was a baffling affair indeed. I mean, how could I not laugh when an Irish friend told me that one of the MPs promised to pay back a token fee of £4.47, which she claimed for dog food on her expenses. Poor dog!
But these events do have a more serious side. This kind of fraud shows that if such politicians had the opportunity for personal gain at the expense of others, they would take it. And moreover, the media’s manner of reporting the scandal has distracted the attention of the people from bigger issues at hand.
Take Sri Lanka, for example. The British government pleaded with that country’s leaders to halt the butchering of the Tamil minority – yet at the same time they were selling arms at the other end! They are also the ones who have branded Africa as the face of endemic corruption, but they need to have a good look at themselves in the mirror.
Certainly the expenses scandal is a sad story for ‘Great’ Britain, but looking beneath the surface at what’s really going on, it is even sadder. And the British media, too, should bear the brunt of some criticism for being suspiciously silent about the arms deals their government facilitates, seemingly without scruples, while simultaneously paying lip service to civil liberties groups.
Simply put, Britain’s political leaders and their friends have lost the moral edge over their corrupt counterparts in Africa, who have spent the greater part of the continent’s resources frivolously. It seems the days have gone when the Commons would speak up and send warnings to the likes of Robert Mugabe and other dangerous rulers. And we can’t look to the opposition for a different story, for they are equally enmeshed in the expenses corruption, thus denting any claims to transparency they might have.
This should serve as an example to all of the belief that many Africans have held for a long time – that corruption is a universal human vice, and one not neatly restricted to any single section of the world.
But when those in the west who profess to frown upon corruption in the developing world are themselves caught with their hands in the till, it is arguably even worse. As the old saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Ukachukwu Okorie is originally from Nigeria. Visit his website at www.olumouka.com
