If you are having trouble believing in Santa, this might be slightly harder: Political nominees are picked by this government based solely on their competence. Yet, that is what is being repeated to us every week in parliament to justify the nomination of some inept, inefficient and incompetent cronies. What is more, the inept, inefficient, incompetent cronies have heard this so many times that they have started believing it and repeating it to us. That is rather dangerous!

It is dangerous because we have seen an already rotten situation decay even more, reaching the point where the putrid smell it has been emitting has become unbearable. It is no secret to anyone that the minister mentor, since his days as prime minister, has fatally tolerated the advancement of his own family, showering them with gifts and unwarranted high office. Count the family members who were given official cars, positions of high responsibility where they are totally out of their depth, contracts, jobs they didn’t even know existed, constitutional posts, access to our duty-free shops for their ‘unique’ products, land, you name it, and you come to realise how easy it is to set a deplorable example.

And it didn’t take long for others to follow suit: nomination of mistresses to posts which should have been advertised and giving them free hand in increasing their own salaries. Shipping other mistresses to countries where they can have a great life as ambassadors at the expense of the state. Posts in the public sector for some unemployed doctors, scholarships abroad, barachoix for nieces, lakes for nephews, notary work for wives, lawsuits for brothers-in-law and the list goes on. Of course, all these people are deserving! In fact, they are the best possible candidates for those positions, we are told. Does that mean that the rest of us are incompetent and undeserving? It looks like the logical conclusion we are made to draw is that our youth, who have spent years studying and gaining work experience are worthless and that whatever dreams they have of an opportunity to contribute to the advancement of their country will remain just that – dreams.

Now that the big cake has been devoured by family and friends, don’t reach for the crumbs. Even those are going to be served to political activists to feast on. This week, two well-known activists (one was an MSM candidate and the other shopped around until he got what he wanted) were nominated as assessors of the Independent Complaints Commission! A commission which – as the name suggests – requires utmost independence! And this, in spite of the objection of the leader of the opposition! Who cares about the importance of the independence of an institution that victims can turn to when all the other doors have been closed? If politicians mess around with you, you turn to their cronies for justice.

This stroke of luck for the political activists will cost the taxpayer Rs75,000 for a part-time job of maybe a couple of meetings a month. Enough to be able to pay the rent for their office and even perhaps upgrade the one-room practice they had been squeezing in before we all suddenly discovered how very competent they are!

Acts like these may look innocuous. After all, we have got used to Rs19 million for cases to lucky lawyers, Rs7 million (not counting the juicy business given by the NHDC) to lucky notaries whose competence the world has just woken up to, undisclosed salaries with huge fringe benefits to daughters and friends…what’s a monthly Rs75,000 to some lawyer/politicians for a couple of hours’ work?

The real problem is not only the fact that those close to power are draining the state purse. It is the message acts of this nature are sending to our youth: that competence is restricted to those who are well connected and those who are opportunistic and obsequious enough to always find themselves on the side of power. The rest are useless. That is the best way to kill the most precious thing the youth have – dreams of a better world. In other words, that is the best way to kill them softly.

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