Many of us will remember last Monday as the deadline for settling our tax returns. And fearing a fi ne, we all did. We even felt thankful for the extra two days. Though most of us will have paid happily, feeling grateful that we belong to that category of people who earn enough to have to pay, we still had pangs at the idea that a good chunk of that hard-earned money will go to fatten up some already fat cats, just because they are lucky enough to be connected to those who are or will be in power. And, nothing is as emotive and morale- sapping as believing that one is being fl eeced of the fruit of one’s work, and for the money taken to go into the wrong pockets.

Politics has become a pecuniary business and, so long as you are in the privileged circle, you will not go empty handed, whether you have been invested with candidature or not, whether you win or lose. The Opposition criticizes only for as long as it is in the Opposition. As soon as it is in power, those criticizing are the fi rst to go to town.

Indeed, providing ‘jobs for the boys’ has been common practice in this country with each and every government. And there is nothing inherently wrong with appointing one’s advisers from one’s camp. After all, decision makers need to surround themselves with those people they trust. Some of these are fully qualifi ed and we respect that. What I fi nd preposterous, however, is when these appointees do not satisfy the minimum educational requirements. Some ministers are renowned for scraping the barrel: their ‘advisers’ as well as those they nominate to run some parastatals have not even reached the level of HSC! How these people can lead parastatal organisations or advise on policies which affect the country is something I still find hard to understand.

Some ‘boys’ are paid such an obscene amount of money that it cannot even be disclosed to the public. Yet, they are paid from public funds! As if the disproportionate salary were not enough, as soon as these people are appointed, they start hopping on and off planes more frequently than we board busses, ravenously feasting on the over generous per diems.

When governments change and these appointees who try to cling to their positions like leeches are dismissed, their contracts are such that the national coffers are swept clean to pay them compensation. Talk about a no-win situation….

I think it is about time the programme presented to the electorate, whenever that is, gives guarantees that chairmen of parastatal bodies and advisors’ qualifi cations as well as their salaries and fringe benefi ts are made public so that the people are reassured that their hard-earned money is not going to line the pockets of some lazy fat cats. That would go some way towards transparency, if not absolute meritocracy.

And one thing is for sure: the generous per diems which are shamelessly abused now have to be abolished and replaced by the proven ‘expense account’ system that holds sway in the private sector. By this single measure, junketeering would also be markedly reduced.

“Sunshine is the best antiseptic,” they say. If you’ve nothing to hide, bring it out in the open. That will earn you my vote!

weekly@lexpress.mu

by Touria PRAYAG