The trend is to bring charges against those who dared to run against them with corruption charges and in desperate cases sex is used as a weapon to discredit the opposition. Hence, if you step into any Third World country you will find that opposition leaders are all facing various charges from traffic offences to misappropriation of party funds that are not enough to pay for a meal. Family vendetta is disguised as a two-party system. Opposition members of Parliament end up boycotting Parliament and take their debate to the streets and any promise of being magnanimous in victory is translated into attempts to remain in power for ever. And in many states religion has become the weapon of choice by the incumbent to remain incumbent.

With the two-thirds mandate given by the people in a guided elections constitutional amendments are railroaded in quick time. In short they use the forms of parliamentary democracy to undermine the very substance that the principles of democracy is designed to protect. Before you know it children of leaders who assume power on the backs of a compliant military will introduce constitutional amendments that would make it a crime if the portrait of their dictator father in not displayed by all households. And it becomes seditious overnight to even criticise those constitutional amendments.

Public debate begins to be constrained by the growing personality cult that begins to take hold in the name of democracy. Leaders become god-like because they have the powers of the state to make or break you. And as they say in social studies when you hold the man by the neck everything falls into place and he will tie the horse where you want him to tie it even if he knows that the horse will be dead by the next day. Then one of those cronies who dance to the tune of Simon Says will float the idea that the dictator’s portrait should be on the face of bank notes. And if the Finance Minister says that it not a good idea he will replaced and within no time they will find a compliant Finance minister.

Third World countries must quickly find the middle ground to bring governments that will take care of the entire population and not only those who belong to the ruling class. This was the biggest mistakes of Communist governments that only took good care of Party members. We need leaders who have the wisdom to do at the beginning what the not so wise leaders do at the end. In today’s world there is no need to belabor this point.

The sudden death of General Solomon Mujuru in an unexplained farmhouse fire in Zimbabwe on August 16th brought the end of the life of one of the most powerful figures in President Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF Party.General Solomon was the former Head of the Zimbabwean Armed Forces and was a comrade of President Mugabe during the War of independence against white rule in Zimbabwe.There is general agreement that this is murder most foul but they are unable to pinpoint who is responsible.

General Solomon Mujuru left government in the mid 1990s to pursue a life in politics but at the same time devoted himself to farming as more and more white farmers were giving up their farms because of the sometimes degrees of violent persuasive powers of President Mugabe. What is interesting is that General Mujuru’s wife who was also in the ranks of the freedom fighters is one of the Deputy Presidents in the present regime and identified as one of leaders who had an outside chance in the ZANU-PF who may succeed President Mugabe.And General Mujuru being a devoted husband has been also accused as having that ambition.

Then there was the ambitious Defence Minister Emmersom Mnangagwa who oversaw the Matabeleland massacres where the followers of the former Vice President The Late Nkomo. The former now is Chairman of the all-powerful Joint Operation Council from which the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is excluded. Hence, by elimination one could argue that Mr. Mnangagwa could be the one to benefit the most by the death of General Mujuru.

Where President Mugabe stands in all this is still unclear. He has never named a successor and is not likely to do so any time soon. But true to tradition President paid a glowing tribute to General Mujuru. All his public action to date were politically correct and based on his reaction it may be clear that he was not involved. But a couple of days after the funeral it did emerge that General Mujuru had suggested President Mugabe was too old to win another elections.

I am personally saddened by the developments in Zimbabwe because I have a soft spot for the people of that country. My four years stay in that country in the good old days of the early 90s brings back fond memories of the country and its people. But like so many Third world countries that had the ingredients to well in this world Zimbabwe has taken a turn for the worse and joined the ranks of countries that need constant aid from the develop countries for its survival.

“The extensive and overwhelmingly supportive media coverage of Hazare’s campaign for tough laws against official graft has largely drowned out the dissenters but they have not been silenced altogether.One high profile critic, is Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of software giant Infosys Technologies who is currently heading a project to provide biometric ID cards to India’s 1.2 billion people.He said in an interview over TV that Hazare’s populist campaign was simplistic and ” uni dimensional ” with its focus on forcing the government to strength an anti corruption bill currently in Parliament.”

He said, ” I am not a great believer that if you pass a law, corruption will miraculously vanish”, suggesting that Hazare had raised people’s expectations to unrealistic levels.” If you really want to address corruption, it is a very multi dimensional mosaic of things. There is no quick fix. This requires hard work”.

Hazare’s protest is centered on the so-called Lokpal Bill which could create the post of Ombudsman to monitor senior politicians and bureaucrats. The 74-year-old activist strongly opposes the bill’s exclusion of the Prime Minister and top judicial officials from the ombudsman’s scrutiny and is currently staging a 15 day fast to demand that the legislation be re-drafted. Nilekani eloquently argues that the use of hunger strike to try to force the legislative hand of an elected government was ” extremely dangerous and completely wrong” in a country proud to be known to be the world’s largest democracy.

A prominent supreme Court lawyer also voiced similar concerns over what she saw as the rigidity of Hazare’s position in his standoff with the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.”We have a situation where we have an elected parliament which is mandated to prescribe laws, enact and enforce laws and a person who is saying ‘ my way or the highway’. It is an aberration of democracy”.

Another argument that has surfaced is that populist support was not the licence for dictating policy. In a democracy the argument goes there is a deliberate process which needs to be respected. Hazare’s efforts is further weakened by the stand taken by Anupama Jha, who heads the Indian chapter of Transparency International who said, ” there was much to be admired in Hazare’s success in pushing corruption up the political agenda.” But like Nilekani she questions the basis of the growing belief among Hazare’s supporters that a strong Lokpal Bill would act as a panacea to purge India’s corruption woes. The law he wants will, at best only act as a deterrent because implementation is such a difficult issue,” Jha said, “pointing to the deep roots of corruption culture has laid down over the decades”.

Then came the comments by Rahul Gandhi seen as India’s Prime Minister in waiting. He warned that democracy was under threat from a popular anti corruption campaign spearheaded by fasting activist Anna Hazare.In Parliament while he praised Hazare’s ideals he vehemently challenged his hunger striking tactics. And this he did at the behest of the venerable English Weekly The Economist which in its Leader in August 20th – September 2nd edition had said, ” Mr. Singh should stand firm against the Hazarites, supporting the ends they espouse but decrying the means they propose”. But yet today the Indian Parliament after 12 days of dithering has finally agreed to adopt the proposals of Mr. Hazare.

Over the past 40 years this must have been the line of argument in the corridors of power against strong anti corruption laws. That is why the Third World is where it today and will never graduate from its status. If only our leaders had been wise 40 years ago we will not have reached this stage where today corruption has become the greatest threat to the Third World and at the same time the power structure in place cn only be sustained by corruption. The people of the Third World are doomed to remain in the clutches of the ruling class if this kind of implicit acceptance of corruption is accepted as a way of life not only by those who are affected by it but by those who are benefitting from it.

Let us not treat corruption the same way that the world had treated alcoholism by legalizing its consumption when the found out that they were not able to ban it altogether.And then declare that there is no harm in being a bit tipsy now and then.

M. Joseph begins by telling us that the best thing about indian politicians is that they makes us feel a better person.” Not surprisingly, Indians often derive their moral confidence not through the discomfort of examining their own action, but from regarding themselves as decent folks looted by corrupt officials. That he contends is at the “heart of the self-righteous middle class uprising against political corruption.” He brands the current developments as TV drama that climaxed in the death fast by Anna Hazare.

He also gives credence to the popular thinking that corporate Executive have be practical politicians have to be vertuos.Added to this is that most Main Stream Media are controlled by corporations that can pull out of advertising contracts. To the credit of M. Joseph he emphasises that the growing young people of India are more interested in their nation than ever before and as a consequence have become more politically aware.He concludes. so they want their home to be better place – where bribe-takers are punished and bribe payers live happily ever after.

Indians he said, ” have a deep and complicated relationship with corruption. The country’s economy is fused with many strands of corruption and organised system of tax evasion. The middle class is very much a part of it”. He underlines that most indians have paid a bribe and Indian businesses cannot survive ” without stashing undeclared earnings”. He points out that almost everyone who has sold a house has under declared its value to avoid paying tax. He also cites examples of the contradictions in the fight against corruption by the various business groups and others with vested interest. He also talks about the moving of cash to overseas to save them from the taxman of socialist India.

His undeclared conclusion is that, ” corruption is such an part of Indian society that the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government Kaushik Basu, has suggested legalizing the payment of bribes”. This is based on the reason that if the payment of bribes is legalised the bribe payer could be persuaded to reveal the name of the recipient. This Basu said’ would inject fear into hearts of politicians and officials who expected bribes. I have a better idea why not make all politicians in government and the opposition and all Senior Civil servants declare their assets to an Independent Arbitration Tribunal that would consider them in public hearing. This inject far more greater fear that just being named by the bribr-payer.Acoording to M. Joseph the suggestion received enthusiastic corporate support which is to be expected as they are the major payers of bribes.In the next paragraph M. Joseph laments that Indian society does grant legitimacy to the bribe payer because it is a description that fits all if not most Indians and supporters of Anna Hazare .

The Prime Minister said Hazare’s plans to hold an indefinite fast to push for changes to a new bill now before parliament was a direct and unconstitutional challenge the government’s authority.” The question is who drafts the law andd who makes the laws” adding that the legislation was the sole prerogative of parliament.In law I agree with the Prime Minister. But Parliament had more than 50 years to do what he had reiterated as a fundamental principle of Parliamentary Democracy.His remarks followed a day of and night of protest in cities across the nation after Hazare was arrested as he prepared to begin his fast unto death in a public park.

Against the background of mounting protest police ordered the release of Hazare but the he refused to leave the Capital Jail without guarantee that his indefinite fast could go ahead.The Prime Minister had argued that Hazare’s arrest has been justified as he had refused to accept police restrictions that included limiting his public fast three days.

I hope that we are not going to see Tunisia written all over this incident. A wise leader will do at the beginning what a leader who is not wise tries to do unsuccessfully in the end. Corruption is the single most important threat faced by Third World Governments. Unfortunately the power structure that had been put in place since independence can only be maintained by a network of corruption.

Tun Zaki pointed out that without public confidence in the Judiciary its ability to mete out justice would be compromised and the people might resort to resolve matters. He stressed that Judges must decide matters before them impartially based on facts and in accordance with the law.They should do so without any restrictions influence inducement pressure threat or interference direct or indirect from any quarter or for any reason. Adapted from The SUN 11th August, 2011.

Comment: Now that is heavy stuff. Hear again we have to come back to the ” Cleopatra Nose Principle”. If she did not have the nose she had the course of world history may be different. If only all the venerable Chief Justice of all Third World countries had repeated theses words of wisdom since independence the term Third World would have been obliterated from the dictionary. While I think that the comments of the Chief Justice may be a bit late because by the time the Third World decides to implement it would take a generation to take hold. By that time our population would have doubled together with its problems. Nevertheless, I am still hopeful that at least the leaders with wisdom in the Third World will immediately take action in the event they have not already done so.

Bad leadership and poor governance are at the heart of decadence of the Third World. And when you compound that with greed in becomes a dangerous mix for the future as the events playing out in Tunisia and Egypt clearly demonstrate. People who aspire to lead must not be confused with cheer leaders.They are elected to lead the nation with all the powers of the state at their disposal. They can use it for the good and they can use for the bad. Unfortunately in the Third World the latter seems to be the standard.These relatively young countries of the Third World need leaders with a capital “L”. People of substance savvy and gravitas. But many of them have only been able to carry the capital “L” that learner driver displays and failed to demonstrate the instincts to make sound decisions and set an unerring stand of governance. Re working became synonymous with the Third World.

Many of the citizens of the Third World thought that with the end of colonial rule this concept of divide and rule would come to an end. In many cases instead they gave credence to that great Yugoslav dissident M.Djlas who spent his life in jail under President Tito for having the guts to opposed that socialist equality for all as expounded by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, by saying that equality for all was a myth and that in actual fact there was only the ruling class and those who are ruled.

After a half century of independence a quick survey of the Third Worlds will tell you that those very people who opposed divide and rule are the ones who are now using it to the point of completely excluding those who are not in the ruling class from the cash economy. In almost all cases these division are along racial lines.This policy has led to leaders in the Third World ruling well beyond their shelf-life with the use of the state security apparatus and of late other institutions such as the Election Commission with the determination that if you want to cheat, start cheating at the source. The UN and some concerned countries are trying to fight this kind of grab of power in the Third World. But they are nowhere near preventing it because of the vested interest based by your enemy is my friend. May be it is time for the UN to have some kind of sliding voting scale based on your non adherence to the principles of democracy subscribed to by the UN. Countries are deprived of their voting rights on a sliding scale depending on their adherence to the basic principles of democracy. Currently this is only used when you do not pay your dues. For example, if there is a military take over 50% of voting rights is removed.If you hold a fraudulent elections 75% of voting rights is removed. If you continue to use the brutal force of the state security apparatus to suppress legitimate and peaceful demonstrations 55% of your voting rights is removed. And to vote in the UN you need to ensure that at all time you have at least 51% of your voting rights before your country can vote on UN resolutions.

If these Third World leaders are not brought to their senses this convoluted approach to governance will continue to damage Third World countries beyond redemption. One by one they are falling because the system does not allow the constitution to take its course and allow for the peaceful transition of power. The latest example in Tunisia and as I write Egypt is facing a potentially debilitating crisis. And there are many in the making. Leaders take the money meant for the people keep then in Foreign Banks in the First World and get new brides to be on their side without any regard for the people from whom they have taken the money. They call themselves leaders and are at best only able to come up with excuses for their failure. There is this one leader of a province of a country in Asia who very cleverly blamed Global Financial Crisis, George bush, Nine eleven, and that fake chicken flu that the WHO so elegantly orchestrated griping the world in a fear that was later found out to be stage-managed by greedy people in WHO who were working with drug manufacturers. This classic Third World Syndrome about the chicken flu played out because the staff at WHO is dominated by cronies from the Third World.

It is indeed a shame that Many First World countries come to the defence of these incompetent Third World leaders and provide them with the means to process their ill-gotten gains in the name of ‘there is no valid evidence to do otherwise’. They also do this for their own reasons. They may have a good contract to supply partol boats or submarines or may have personally benefitted from the ill-gotten gains of Third World leaders. The altar of political correctness in international fora become the defence of these leaders from the first world. And honesty in dealing with them becomes the basis for the loyalty to those corrupt Third World leaders. Some of the Third World leaders behave like clowns and their foreign colleagues are indifferent to their juvenile image or the consequence of their actions. But in their own countries such poor governance by the leaders would earn a dismissal by the people at the next polls.

What really surprises me is that the First World tolerates leaders of the Third World who commit crimes that in their own countries will bring the full extent of the law on them. Constantly the opposition brings up this issue to emphasise that it has become a culture in the Third world for leaders to literally plunder the countries they have been elected to rule and yet when these same leaders travel to the first World on Official visits or otherwise they are accorded full protocol and treated with the respect extended to all Heads of States and Heads of Government. These unreserved acceptance in the First World are used by these leaders to keep themselves in power by fraudulent elections after elections. Perhaps those in the First World are yet to understand the powerful image that this acceptance conveys in the Third World when their leader is photographed together with, say, President Obama in the Oval office..

Backed by this high-profile support they come back home to tell the people who the Election Commission is going to study the concept of proxy voting to strengthen democracy in the country. The First World leaders are impressed, because they do not care if you country is stable or not, because more instability means more profits for their investors who are welcomed with the red carpet.

Patna Jaya: Police are investigating several Programme Management Companies or agents for modifying Biometric Devices without the knowledge of the Home Ministry.

The Ministry has found 600 such modified devices, which do not meet the prescribed specifications.

The Home ministry said this in a statement that irresponsible action of these companies has caused disruption to the system put in place to streamline data which is protected under the Official Secret Act.

” As a result, data taken from legal workers and illegal workers were not uploaded onto the main server on the Immigration Department to be collated with other statistics received throughout the country. All managers have been warned not to temper with their device as disruptions to the system could result in the system result in the issuance of a Next Code registration slip with double reference code. If this happens, illegal migrants will face problems during the process of legalisation and amnesty. He said

The government has appointed 336 management companies to register foreign workers in the country. A total of 1,637,725 illegal and legal foreign workers have been registered using the Biometric system to date.

Comment: Why is it necessary for the government to out source such an important and sensitive registration to the Private Sector? Do we not have enough Government Servants to do the job? Or is there a prawn hiding behind the rock?