The government will try to wriggle its way out of this latest scandal in whichever way it can. The spin doctors will come up with some ludicrous statements blaming someone’s neighbour’s dog or their sister-in-law. And the (Very) Independent Commission Against Corruption will step in to start its legendary face-saving enquiries. They are entitled to their own spin. But what they are not entitled to is their own facts.

And the facts do not come from the press, the opposition or other ‘anti-patriots’ – a label slapped on anyone who dares to call the government out on its opacity. The facts come from the African Development Bank (AfDB) that, on Monday, officially debarred the firm, Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC), from participating in any projects linked to the AfDB for 21 months. The grounds for such a severe sanction? BWSC “financially rewarded members of the Mauritian administration and others, through the intermediary of third parties, for providing access to confidential tender-related information which allowed them to tailor the technical specifications of the tenders to its offering, thus gaining undue competitive advantage over other tenderers”. There! A clear-cut instance of bribery, fraud, corruption and graft!

“While some are gorging on billions, many are sleeping in tents in the cold with their children and babies in total indifference of the authorities.”

Worse still, BWSC, through its CEO, Nikolaj Holmer Nissen, conceded that its own investigation “gives reason to suspect that criminal actions have occurred, including bribery”.

Remember that the minister overseeing the CEB – the state entity implicated in this deal – is the same guy with the supernatural powers that allowed him to look into the eyes of shady businessman Álvaro Sobrinho and see that his money was clean. And don’t forget that his boss is the same guy who, as minister of finance and prime minister, surreptitiously changed the law in an annexe in small print in the budget to shift the power of granting investment banking licences from an ‘uncooperative’ Bank of Mauritius to a very accommodating Financial Services Commission. And you will recall that the latter did not disappoint. Its board – or at least those who did not resign as a sign of protest – was called on a Saturday to urgently sign the application and grant Sobrinho the licence he was denied in other countries.

More than the embarrassment it has caused us, the implications of the AfDB’s decision are devastating. At a time when the country is clumsily struggling to convince the whole world that we do not deserve to be grey-listed by the Financial Action Task Force and the International Monetary Fund, blacklisted by the EU or put on a ‘doubt list’ by India, we are thrust right in the middle of an international corruption scandal of gargantuan proportions. Add this to the Boskalis case we have not recovered from yet and you will take stock of how dire the situation we are in really is.

Corruption thrives not only because of powerful corrupt people; it is corrupt or subservient institutions that make this level of corruption possible. You may remember that, in October 2014, the Central Procurement Board, according to Collendavelloo himself, had refused to approve that the CEB grant the contract to the same company. In March 2016, the same company walks away with the contract and an additional sum of Rs700 million that the minister tried to justify in parliament! The most insidious and dangerous thing this government has done is to eliminate the checks and balances in place. By appointing partisan members at the head of all – all – our institutions, these turn into lapdogs with no power to keep corrupt practices in check.

The way one shady deal chases away another and the dizzying amounts involved are an indication of how deep we have dug ourselves into a hole. It is both worrying and dangerous. Worrying because people are helplessly watching those they elected to serve them openly fill their pockets with scant regard for good governance and integrity. Worrying because, while some are gorging on billions, many are sleeping in tents in the cold with their children and babies in the total indifference of the authorities. Dangerous because many citizens are today living below the poverty line with no hope of any immediate improvement.

The greed of some and the implicit complicity of others, added to the increasing opacity surrounding public finances, are sending the wrong signal to a nation licking its wounds from unemployment, looming poverty and lack of hope. It is literally telling them that the country belongs to a lucky greedy few. It is not a good signal, whichever way you spin it.

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