On the heel of a highly- inspiring comment on lexpress.mu, by fellow patriot WorldWord, about how the world watches on as our nation bleeds, one cannot deny the harsh reality of those words. While the government drones on about abortion and various scandals, most of us remain blind to the fact that corruption is rapidly contributing to drawing a noticeable indigence line which is driving those on the margins to engage in both petty and flagitious forms of crime. Generally, in the absence of a reasonable income, people are victimized twice over: they are denied development and then forced to lower their standards of honesty.

Civic education and identification of parameters for a just society are imperative as a root and branch cure. We need to recognize the palmary importance of civil society in fleshing out the contours of a democratic society and in supporting the evolution of the organs of such a society- organs in the form of free media serviced by a cadre of bold, professional, and responsible practitioners, an independent judiciary committed to uphold the rule of law, an effective and proportionally- remunerated public service, and a democratic parliament, with a cadre of parliamentarians who are ready to demonstrate their own integrity through a willingness to provide a veridical account of their personal finances and business interests at any given time. The acid test of any government, in the end, is to promote and uphold democracy, something our scrofulous, jug- head leaders are reluctant and reticent to restore.

A government must fundamentally remain an instrument of the people, created by the people to serve their will. A skilled and committed leadership can mitigate conditions that are hostile to democracy. Sadly, at the time of independence, benighted elites succeeded in entrenching their interests at the detriment of the Mauritian nation (and that of Chagossiens). What we witness today, thewless, is the bloated and corrupt bureaucratic machinery firmly encroaching itself into our civil space (in the name of so- called development, thriving on graft and crass influence- peddling), all time rendering the poor more powerless and voiceless, and the rich more powerful and wealthier. As a democracy, we have the power of epuration, but we do not utilize this power. There is also the erstwhile trepidation brought about by subfusc and overly concern with religion, turning important issues into a sideshow bagatelle and a breeding ground for sheer scuttlebutt (most recently in the form of the Comstockery regarding Susheela Raman’s disallowed song).

Corruption, lack of justice and near non- existent law and order have synergistically conspired to create an atmosphere of pervasive antagonism among our people. The buffoonery being internationally displayed with the McAreavey case simply captures the quintessence of the failures afflicting our judiciary system. Our political culture remains that of passive subordination and neo- patrimonial personalized rule, discouraging and disenfranchising active competition, questioning of authority or dissent. So entrenched and pervasive is the pestilence of corruption that even our youth is no longer inspired. Suicide rate among the young these days is discomfiting people unable to keep up with loan repayments preferring to set their entire world on fire.

Excerebrose and cringe- worthy inadequacies on all fronts have brought our island to its knees. The paths are uneven, the issues daunting we have many obstacles to circumvent. Instead of expecting one big triumph in the war against corruption, why not start this crusade of moral rearmament step by step? Every one of us must become a custodian of liberty, joining hands to break this warring tradition of corruption and usher in a change that respects the will of the people, exposing the wrongs and providing the essential bulwark against corruption, the very handmaiden of this smouldering oppression that is fast becoming the curse of Mauritius. It is not about how the world perceives us it must become how we perceive ourselves as a nation.

By Queen Pious