Corruption in Africa: a Cancer That Won’t Go Away
‘Corruption is one of the most formidable challenges to good governance, development and poverty reduction’ in Africa says 2008 Transparency International Report.
It has been said that corruption in Africa is like an advanced cancer or tumour that cannot be treated. Like cancer, corruption has tragically devastated African societies and made millions of people very poor. From South Africa to Egypt the tentacles of corruption reaches every where. Corruption has no boundaries. From the offices of presidents and prime ministers to the smallest administration unit of government corruption is everywhere. According to the Africa Union (AU) around $148 billion are stolen from the continent by its leaders and civil servants every year. The recent Forbes’ list of most corrupt nations had 9 out of the first 16 countries coming from Africa.
In Africa, very few government officials and civil servants perform services for free. You cannot get your birth certificate or passport unless you grease the palm of officials. You cannot get good education for your kid unless you pay a bribe. You cannot obtain electricity meter for your house unless you pay a bribe. You cannot get your goods out from the harbour unless you pay kickback. Anything involving signing of documents involves paying inducements. In Africa you can hardly find someone who has not paid bribe before either willingly or unwillingly. To receive attention when you are sick you need to grease the palm of hospital officials.
In Ghana, officials illegally charge 15 and 150 Ghana cedis for a birth certificate and a passport respectively. Again in Ghana Police officers openly ask bus and taxi drivers to pay bribe before they are allowed to cross mounted road blocks. Customs officials adopt all manner of tactics in order to collect money from importers and exporters before their goods are allowed to leave the ports.
Most projects in Africa are carried out by corrupt contractors who collude and connive with public officials to inflate project cost in order to enrich themselves. As a result every project carried out cost three times the usual cost and it is always the tax payers who bear the brunt of it. Due to corruption, project inspectors fail to do their job and allow substandard work to be done at the expense of the people and the nation.
In Africa, it is totally useless to bid for contracts because contracts are awarded to the contractors who are able to pay the biggest bribe. In most countries there are no announcements for tenders rather contracts are awarded to companies who secretly pay large sums of commission to government officials.
For example on 17th September 2002 a Canadian Engineering company called Acres International was convicted by a High Court in Lesotho for paying $260,000 bribe to secure an $8 billion dam contract in the tiny Southern African nation of Lesotho.
Achair Partners a Swiss company and Progresso an Italian company have been accused of bribing Somali Transition Government officials in order to secure contracts to deposit highly toxic industrial waste in the waters of Somalia.
In 2002 Halliburton a US company was accused of establishing $180m flush fund with the intent of using it to bribe Nigeria officials in order to secure a $10 billion Liquefied Gas Plant contract in the Nigeria. In response to the accusation the company fired Mr. Albert Jack Stanley. Mr. Stanley a former executive of Halliburton (KBR) has pleaded guilty for orchestrating the $180m flush fund. Even though Halliburton denied any knowledge of such a fund a report by the company later named a British called Jeffrey Tesler as the middleman behind the bribery. Such corrupt practices by western companies seeking contracts in Africa are not uncommon.
In Africa contracts are awarded to party faithfuls who in turn make handsome financial contributions to the party in power. Because of corruption and nepotism anyone can become a contractor in Africa. In Africa, state coffers or the treasury are the personal property of the president/prime minister, his family, his cronies and his political party. In most African countries there is no separation or difference between state and ruling party resources.
Corruption is so endemic in African societies that, political parties have been pledging to combat it with deadly force but when they are elected nothing seem to change. When former president of Ghana John Kuffour took office he said ‘there will be zero tolerance for corruption’ in his government but his party recently lost power amid accusation that he was unable to tame his corrupt officials.
Despite years of exports of oil, gold, diamond, bauxite, tin, coltan, uranium, manganese timber and several other valuable minerals the continent continue to be ranked as the poorest on earth because most of the revenue from these exports do not get to the people but find its way into the bank accounts of corrupt government officials, civil servants and their allies.
Since oil was first discovered in Nigeria about 50 years ago, over $400 billion have been realised from its sale but today the whole population continue to live in abject poverty and the country has nothing to show or account for the billions of dollars she has received for years. Those who have benefited from the oil are corrupt politicians, civil servants, a shadow economy, armed bandits, army generals and the big oil corporations such as Shell, Mobil, BP and their American counterparts. As a result able men and women are battling dangerous seas just to enter Europe and try their luck. Others have resulted to 419 a popular scam used to trick people into given out their money and valuables. In fact Nigeria has consistently featured in the top 1% of the most corrupt nation on the planet.
Between 2005 and 2007 several state governors and their immediate families were arrested by Scotlandyard in London on corruption and money laundering charges.
Among them are James Ibori of oil rich Delta State and his wife Theresa who had their $35m asset frozen by the English court. Mr. Ibori earns about a thousand dollars a month but during his eight years as a state governor he managed to acquire wealth to the tune of $35m and was a key financial contributor to the campaign of the current president of Nigeria. He owns a private jet and a lavish London home.
Another corrupt governor is Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of oil-rich state of Bayelsa who was also arrested in London for money laundering charges. Mr. Alamieyeseigha broke his bail conditions and evaded capture in Britain by dressing up as a woman. When Police conducted a search in his London home they discovered one million pounds worth of cash in his home.
Another governor who was arrested in England was Joshua Dariye of Plateau State. He was arrested in a London hotel for stealing money meant for development of his state.
But these thieves have no rank compared to the heavyweights like Abacha, Mobutu, Eyadema, Lansana Conte, Obiang Nguema, Omar Bongo, Mubarak and Arap Moi.
In the 1990s economic hardship, abject poverty and destruction of the environment forced the people of Ogoniland in Nigeria to demand a say in which Shell operates but the military regime led by Gen. Sani Abacha arrested the environmentalists led by Ken Sorowiwa and executed them. You may wonder why Abacha killed his country men instead of protecting and providing for their needs. According to available data Nigeria government Lawyers within the period that Abacha became Head of State i.e. between 1993 and 1998 he stole $4 billion of Nigeria’s oil money and stashed it in several secret bank accounts in Switzerland, Britain, Luxemburg, Jersey Island and Liechtenstein. In April, 2002 these countries agreed to return $1 billion of the stolen money to the people of Nigeria. So far about $2 billion have been returned to the government of Nigeria and the rest of the money is still sitting in bank accounts in Western countries notably Switzerland and Britain.
A visit to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria shows that majority of the people especially the youth are unemployed. Years of oil spills have made the soil unfit for any agricultural activity. Their streams and wells are polluted and the people have no access to basic necessities of life because their leaders have enriched themselves with the money.
Every effort to get the Nigeria government to develop the oil rich areas fell on death ears until the unemployed youth took up arms against the federal government and oil companies. They kidnapped foreign oil workers and demanded ransom before their victims were released. They disrupted the oil production forcing the oil companies to move several miles offshore for their own safety but they were not safe either. Eventually, the companies had to reduce their output by 25% in 2007-8. These disruptions affected supply of oil in the world market forcing the price to skyrocket to $140 a barrel in the summer of 2008.
If Abacha could steal $4 billion within 5 years then you can tell how much the leaders who have ruled for decades have stolen. For example Gaddafi of Libya has been in power for 39 years now. Omar Bongo of Gabon 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt 27 years, Paul Biya of Cameroon 26 years, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda 22 years, Omar Al Bashir of Sudan 19 years, Iddriss Derby of Chad 17 years, Yahya Jammeh of Gambia 14 years.
I think you have now got the picture and understand why the African Union says $148 billion leave the continent every year.
The late Lansana Conte ruled Guinea for 24 years from 1984 to 2008. Sometimes having a leader maintaining stability in a country could translate into economic prosperity but this is not the case for Guinea. Even though Guinea is the world’s biggest exporter of bauxite, there is little very the country can show for it. Apart from bauxite, Guinea also have large deposits of gold diamond, iron, nickel and uranium yet poverty is so severe that the country was ranked among the top 1% of most corrupt countries in Africa. In fact according to a report by UN, Guinea ranks 160th out of 177 in the UN’s Development scale.
According to available documents 70% of revenue from of all mineral exports every year finds its way in the bank accounts of Lansana Conte and his cronies. Today the people lack portable water and electricity. Roads, rail lines, telecommunication, schools, hospitals are in severe deplorable conditions while money meant for their repair and maintenance sit in Europe and America being protected by banking secrecy laws. According to Aljazeera a credible and popular news broadcaster, corruption is so woven in Guinean society that school girls need not study as their promotion to next class is always assured by their male teachers who solicit sex from them. According to the students, those who refuse to sleep with their teachers are made to repeat a year in class. Female teachers on the other hand demand money to be paid in exchange for higher marks.
Why won’t the people be poor when their livelihoods have been taken away from them? Why?
On Friday 31, 2007 the Guardian newspaper in Britain reported a corruption scandal perpetrated by former president of Kenya Daniel Arap Moi and his family. According to the Guardian a 110 page report prepared by international risk consultancy firm Kroll exposed Arap Moi and his family and accused them of banking £1 billion in 28 countries including Britain. The report went further to say that the family used Shell Oil Company, secret trusts, front men and his entourage to siphon the money away.
Apart from the money, the Moi family also bought several multimillion pound properties in London, New York, South Africa including 10,000-hectare ranch in Australia and bank accounts containing hundreds of millions of pounds. It is on record that Mr. Moi’s sons Philip and Gideon are wealth £384m and £550m respectively. While majority of Kenyans live in rural areas, and live in mud/thatched houses with bamboo/raffia leaves as roofing sheet the Moi family live in a £4m home in Surrey and £2m flat in Knightsbridge. Arap Moi’s 24 year rule was largely corrupt and contributed to endemic poverty seen in Kenya today.
How do you expect the continent to develop when monies meant for her development are stolen by her leaders and kept by countries who praise themselves as civilised, cultured, loving and democratic?
In South Africa, Jacob Zuma is still battling it out with the court for his part in the multi-billion arms deal in South Africa in 2001. He was forced to resign as Deputy President of South Africa a clear embarrassment to the ANC government of former president Mbeki.
In 2006 former president of Malawi Bakili Muluzi was arrested for pocketing $12m donated to his poor country by foreign governments. Again former Zambia president Frederick Chiluba was arrested together with two business men Aaron Chungu and Faustin Kabwe and charged with 11 counts of stealing money meant for the Zambia’s development.
In Equatorial Guinea where oil export has earned the country billions of dollars, the 600,000 people living in the country continue to live in poverty while Teodoro Obiang Nguema and his cronies continue to siphon the oil revenue with no accountability.
Gabon and Angola both Oil exporting countries are no different. In fact, the governments in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea can best be described as Kleptocracy that is government by thieves. In countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, The Gambia, Sudan, Uganda, Libya, Tunisia a Kleptocracy class of people have replaced anything democracy. In these countries very few people continue to remain in power and the people have no say in the way their country is govern or run. For example Gaddafi of Libya has been in power for 39 years now. Omar Bongo of Gabon 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt 27 years and the list is unending.
How do you expect a person to rule for 30 years without being corrupt?
What is clear is that these unelected leaders continue to amass wealth at the expense of their poor countries and continue to mismanage whatever remains of their corrupt activities. Because most of the leaders are former military officers or former rebels with no grasp of economics and management, they are unable to formulate any good economic policies that will transform and grow their economies hence poverty has become a part of the people but their leaders know not what poverty is.
In DR Congo it is estimated that gold and diamond deposits alone could fetch the country 23 trillion dollars not to mention the abundance of timber and other several minerals that are found in large quantities such as columbo-tantalite (coltan) and cassiterite (tin ore) yet years of corruption, mismanagement, conflicts and foreign involvement have made this resource rich nation one of the poorest in the world.
It is often said that western nations cannot maintain their current level of lifestyle without Congo and most corporations in the west can easily go bust without Congo. The question is if Congo is the blood line of the west and the west is rich because of Congo then why is Congo so poor?
And where are the billions of dollars from the sale of these minerals? The answer lies in the history of the nation which is endemic corruption, colonialism, armed conflicts and foreign involvements. Mobutu in his 32 year reign is believed to have taken several billions of dollars from the treasury and deposited it in his numerous Swiss bank accounts. When President Kabila requested the Swiss for the money to be returned he was told Mobutu had just $7.6m. President Kabila frustrated and disappointment with the Swiss announcement said he had expected the Swiss to announce something like $1 billion or more.
But unconfirmed report indicate that the Swiss decided not to give the billions of dollars to the Congo government for fear that it would be stolen again by Kabila and his regime who are also deadly corrupt. Mobutu have several villas and mansions in France and Switzerland bought with money stolen from the Congo people. In 2001, items auctioned in his luxurious home in Switzerland fetched $100,000. The billions of dollars taken away from the country have made Congo one of the poorest in Africa. In Congo today there are no schools, hospitals, roads, telecommunication, rail, electricity and potable water. The only means of transport is through River Congo.
Everyday in Walikale about 16 aircraft fly out of the city with loads of minerals bound for Rwanda. These stolen minerals further find their way in the western mineral markets in London and Switzerland. The proceeds are shared by the Generals, politicians, western companies the businessmen in Rwanda, the warlords in Congo who use part of their share to acquire weapons that are used to terrorise the people and prolong the war. Watch the video below about Congo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io8c81xHLmw
Conclusion
Western governments are quick to preach good governance to Africa but they fail to preach the same message to their banks who act as save havens for these corrupt leaders. The western governments have forgotten that the existence of bank secrecy laws in Switzerland, Jersey Island, Britain, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Austria have encouraged these corrupt leaders to bank away monies meant for their countries’ development.
The name of Switzerland, Britain, France, Jersey Island, Liechtenstein and Luxemburg came up several times throughout this study of corruption in Africa as I try to establish where most of the stolen monies go. Even though these countries like to portray themselves as civilised and cultured with hearts of angels, they have failed to recognise that keeping monies that were dishonestly obtained from the poor people on earth taint whatever reputation they might have. In the case of Switzerland and her allies who keep these stolen monies it is so pathetic that they know they are receiving stolen monies yet due to greed they have done nothing to stop it.
The next time you are looking for stolen money from your country ask the Swiss government and the Swiss banks they always have a clue about it where about.
Africa is poor today because of colluding and connivance of Swiss and other western banks and the kleptocrats who rule Africa. Corruption is rife on the continent because those who steal the money never lack a place to hide them.
Fighting corruption should not be left to the poor countries alone.
Western media who always portray Africa as underdeveloped and backward must expose the banks in their countries who serve as save havens. The media should put pressure on politicians in Europe and America to reform the banking secrecy laws and make it punishable offence to receive monies from these corrupt leaders. Again the western media must campaign vigorously for all looted monies to be returned to their rightful owners in Africa. The western media must team up with civil organisations to expose western companies who pay bribes to secure contracts in Africa like Acres International, Halliburton, Trafigura, Achair Partners and Progresso.
Western countries have a duty to stop their nations being used as save havens for stolen monies from the African continent. Western countries should reform their banking laws. They should return all looted money put there by corrupt African leaders to the African people. There must be an international coalition dedicated to tracking all stolen monies on the face of the earth with Africa given to priority.
Africans should establish well funded independent Corruption watchdogs to investigate, prosecute and severely punish corrupt officials who engage in corrupt practices. The Africans must demand transparency and accountability in government. Laws must be enacted in Africa to protect whistle blowers who take the risk to expose corrupt practices.
It is by uniting to fight corruption that Africa can ever dream of parting with poverty.
Lord Aikins Adusei
http://www.articlesbase.com/economics-articles/corruption-in-africa-a-cancer-that-wont-go-away-738350.html
How can I go about talking about fear to corruption in our government?
I’m presenting a poster with a group for my US Gov class tomorrow and one person is going to talk about fear (war) and then he wants me to make like a transition to corruption.
What could I say? How could I connect fear to corruption?
Look at our government, the corruption is from the small town government to Washington DC. In this country, money talks and the bull Sh– walks. The war cost 10 billion dollars a month. That money is not vanishing into thin air, who is getting all that money, it’s not the solders on the ground getting all that money. And if they are willing to spend 10 billion dollars a month, how much money is being made on the war, what is their return.
Migration Problems
As the term “global village” becomes a key definition of the modern world most of developed countries open their doors to professional immigrants from developing countries. Consequently, developing countries experience the lack of skilled people that could rise up the economic levels of their home countries. Recently, African countries have become the leaders of those states that significantly suffer from migration of its citizens to more developed countries. Although, African nations are even more than partially responsible for the “brain drain” they face as they encourage their citizens to receive experience in developed countries; after finishing training programs abroad and experienced better quality of life African citizens simply do not want to come back to their home countries. It is crucially important for the governments of African countries to stop such mass migration from Africa in order to have their home countries developing.
This issue turns out to be very controversial when we start looking for who is actually responsible for the effect of “brain drain” in Africa. If we view the problem from one side we might think that it is very simple to keep skilled, talented and well-educated people in Africa and let them develop their countries. From the other side African countries do not have a great number of higher-level learning institutions to prepare a desired quantity of professionals. A bad thing is that most of African countries do not posses money to create these facilities and besides they will have to dedicate a lot of time in order to create and develop decent educational system. Besides, in order to attract investment African states have to reduce the level of corruption that they presently have. Corruption greatly scares away investors, especially foreign. High crime rate in most African cities also has a negative effect on foreign investments as it makes investors feel unsafe about their capital and results then to seek other investment alternatives. To decrease the level of corruption, for example, South African government implemented “turn around” strategy in 2003. Barry Gilder, the director-general of home affairs, very often makes surprised visits to department’s regional offices to see if the subordinates are implementing the new strategy to life.
We can argue on and on who is responsible for the fact that well-educated people leave Africa, however, it will not solve the problem. What should be done is actually finding ways to decrease a number of emigrants from Africa. In order to accomplish that task the possible causes of mass migration from Africa have to be found and eliminated to the possible extend.
The most obvious cause for migration from African countries is high unemployment rate and a possibility to have a greater monetary income in the destination country. To resolve that problem Africa simply needs a lot of time and investments. However, what can be done right away is toughening of emigration rules in African countries and toughening of immigration rules in the developed destination countries. For example, make it mandatory for all the students that go studying abroad to come back to their home countries after some period of time. Developed foreign countries have to encourage African students to return to their home countries, although, it might be difficult for students to readjust to home conditions as they are exposed to higher living standards.
Another cause of mass migration from Africa is fairly poor living conditions in many African countries. The governments have to improve living standards by increasing economic growth and skilled labor absorption into the economy. The governments have to create favorable conditions for investments in their economy. (I have already mentioned above in my paper what should be done by the governments in order to attract investments.) Instead of spending about four billion dollars annually to recruit and pay foreign professionals African governments should spend this money on training their own professionals.
Africa is an immense developing region that has a great potential. It is logical that to continue the growth in the variety of fields Africa needs high quality workers. Unfortunately, the tendency for migration of African native professionals, mostly to northern more developed countries, increases every year. To keep up with the pace of development African governments’ primary task is to keep the “golden youth” in there home countries because the very same generation will be running African countries on the peak of their developing. It is vitally important to create beneficial and promising conditions for native smart young people in order to keep them enthusiastic about the developing of their region. Only then Africa can have promising future.
Jeff Stats
http://www.articlesbase.com/college-and-university-articles/migration-problems-135053.html
Social Security & Economic Security to All Citizen of India & Universe
Indian Social Security, an NGO conceptualized & supported by social workers of various states, NGOs, Professors of IIT and students, has filed a Public Interest Litigation with Supreme Court that is heard on November 17,2008 .This PIL demands a ‘National Database System’ to achieve Social Security & Economic Security to all citizen of India with a single ‘Centralized National Database Number’ containing all the information of each citizen in order to maintain an authentic data to curb down fake identity, infiltration, terrorism, poverty, corruption, tax evasion.
Explaining the objectives of this PIL Gurbinder Singh from ‘Indian Social Security’ said, “System for People will be created by People.”
He said that social security is still a distant dream as present system of governance has no measures of adequacy for fair distribution of welfare schemes like subsidies to deprived citizen of the country when they are in need due to non- availability of authentic data of the Location wise authentic data of Deprived Citizen. Instead, In Current Situation, all the social benefits are delivered vide a channelized structure of Hierarchy Structure of Government Bodies, Ministries, Departments, Block Panchayats, Local authorities, Where the Purpose of the Benefits are evaded in Corruption, Thus leads to major atrocities for the deprived Citizen..
Events of Supreme Court: Time – (13Minutes)
Petitioner Gurbinder Singh – Indian Social Security Started
Petitioner Gurbinder Singh – Indian Social Security Started
If social security & Economic Security is to be ensured to each and every deprived citizen of this country, A national Database is a basic need of Government. Nobody can deny this fact. Even our Constitution endorses it vide Citizenship Act 14A. A ‘National Database System’ will be a first step in this direction,” he said. He highlighted Chief Justice, the fact & importance of National Database to be the Base of Governance, He added, that even a School or Institution, or Supreme Court cannot run without authentic Database.
Further He said “The intentions of the Central Government are limited to provide social and economic security to its employees only rather than all citizen of India. Over 55% citizens live below the poverty line, Over 40% Indian kids are malnourished,” he added, that Government maintained data of their employees for their Social & economic Security but Why has there been no intensions for even maintaining a Authentic Database of rest of their tax Payer Citizen.
He also said that the main security agencies and public policing agencies in India do not have any centralized data of citizens to curb down the sensitive problems of terrorism, infiltration, and the movements of violent organizations. According to him, this non-centralization of citizen data has increased the burden on law enforcement machinery.
He said Please see Pg 213 of PIL Annexure - 800 active cells of terrorism are working in our country, a statement of chief security advisor to P.M.
Singh expressed that the central governance has no method to deal with natural calamities in terms of appropriate subsidy distribution system to the affected citizens as no authentic data of any given affected area is available with them. As a result of this, needy people do not get any relief in spite of the support of funds and relief measures.
This database system will lead to increased taxation, direct delivery of subsidy & other social welfare benefits like Old-Age pension to citizen, fair polling, secularism, speedy implementation of law & justice, said Singh.
Chief Justice said
I understand your noble intentions but you are trying to compare India with all other developed countries, where this kind of system runs. You approach Government for this
He Presented the fact to Chief Justice that:
“ If most of the Developing & Developed countries including Argentina, China, Brazil, other 50 countries are having social security mechanism to create a prosperous culture of equality, fair distribution of resources, speedy Justice, control of human intensions of corruption, then Why not in India?” asked Singh.
Singh Added,
Your Honour This is demotivationg, National database is the base of Governance, even a school or supreme court cannot operate without a database, then how come country of billion does not needs his kind of database. This is dilemma of India that there are 35 separate smart cards, each card is a burden to the taxpayer money of minimum about 1000crores – Rs.5000 crores FOR EACH CARD on average per year, with E Governance of Centralization this cost can be reduced to 25 times the existing cost
Singh Said, Your Honor I want to save your Money & my money & money of all Citizens being diluted by the wrong policies by the Government.
The lawers in the court, sitting behind the petitioner said Yes, two times in a group softly
The Chief Justice said, In India Population is the issue therefore this kind of good system needs a long wait, Petitioner replied; Your honour that is Why I would like to present the fact that till you do not have the data of all citizen, You may not know the count of population & make this statement. Petitioner added, Population of India is the Power of India, Not the crises in India, If there be an authentic database to calculate the Citizen, the honorable court will himself know the Fact, he said. (According to Chief Statistician of India, Mr. Pranab Sen – said in an interview on 30th July in Lok Sabha Channel, That The available data with the govt. is Inadequate, Therefore How can the Policies for People be accurate, credible & Factful.)
Singh said “Last statement your honor, Government has most e-governance implementations in collection of taxes, others but Government has not initiated any single move as far as e-governance strategy in delivering that money to the deprived people”
Lawyers behind the petitioner applauded softly.
Gurbinder Singh opined that the motive of making an effort for social security through the proposed ‘National Database System’ is based on a fact that the purpose of prosperity in a country of billions cannot be achieved without the wisdom and creation of positive social and economic systems in the direction of humanity.
Gurbinder Singh
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/social-security-economic-security-to-all-citizen-of-india-universe-683212.html
What should we do to free our planet from corruption?
Human society, from origin until now, has always been at corruption within and between groups and has led to corruption World. Presently, corruption and low intensity warfare are affecting many parts if the world.
As the current global population of 6 billion increases to 8 billion by 2025, national and international corruption will continue to be a source of concern for humanity. When evil minds combine, good minds have to work together and combat. In this context, what are the out-of-the-box solutions to free the planet earth from corruption? Your answers when processed and implemented can lead to a peaceful, happy and safe planet earth.
Corruption is a product of human nature. There will never be no corruption, just varying degrees.
A Request to be Kidnapped From Jerusalem
On the November 26, 2006 WAWA Blog, this reporter raised the question if Mordechai Vanunu’s Christian conversion could be the reason the Israeli government continues to hold him captive in Jerusalem, 2 1/2 years after he was released from 18 years in jail for telling the world the truth, that Israel had gone nuclear.
Reporter and full time CPT/Christian Peacemaker Teams volunteer, Jerry Levin, reported Vanunu’s answer in a December 3, 2006 email:
Jerry: “Do you see an element of persecution in all this governmental pressure?”
Unhesitatingly, Mordechai answered. “There is. It is my Christianity that they cannot accept. That is the source of my problems with my case.”
The rest of Jerry’s report follows, but first let me tell you a little about Jerry.
Jerry Levin, a secular Jew and CNN’s former Mid East Bureau Chief in the 1980′s was kidnapped by the Hizbuloh in Lebanon and held for nearly a year. Meanwhile, his wife Sis, a Christian had been praying and persistently working for his release. On Christmas Eve, Jerry had a mystical experience of Christ and shortly thereafter escaped unharmed.
Ever since, the couple have dedicated their ‘retirement’ years working for peace and pursuing justice in the Holy Land. Jerry’s book “My First Noel” about that event and his hard hitting expose “West Bank Diary” can be purchased through Hope Publishing House.
I met Jerry for the first time on the third Tuesday in June 2005, when he ‘shepherded’ me through Hebron. Hebron is where 450 Israeli settlers are protected by 3,000 Israeli Defense/Occupying Forces. I was nauSEOus the entire day for the oppression is visceral and the visuals reminded me of every photo and movie I had ever seen of the ghettos the Jews were forced into during the Holocaust. The settlers [who are are illegal colonists according to International law] spray painted “GAS THE ARABS” and Stars of David upon what had once been peaceful Palestinian homes.
A main street in Hebron where the colonists/settlers live on one side and Palestinians on the other is connected by a thick yet deeply sagging netting above ones head. Huge rocks, shovels, electronic equipment, furniture and all manner of debris have been flung onto it by the settlers with the hope that it will give way and hit a Palestinian on the head.
Jerry told me, “It gets cleaned out about every year or so. Come back in a few months and there will be more. The settlers just throw what ever they want onto the netting, they do what ever they want and get away with it. The CPT’s run interference by non-violent resistance, we get the children and woman to where they need to be going and back again. Sometimes the settlers curse and stone us all; it keeps it interesting.”
Now, for Jerry’s report:
(Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine December 3, 2006) A friend responding to my latest report on the trials of Mordechai Vanunu (See From The Inside Looking Out report-73, December 2, 2006: Mordechai Vanunu and the Perils of Speaking English) described his travails as a “pathetic little Kaka tale.” Down home in Alabama we have another way of describing those ordeals, You can’t win for losing.”
Take for instance his civil suit against the Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharanot. It was launched while he was still in prison for revealing Israel’s secret atomic and hydrogen bomb making program through an article in the London Times.
“The newspaper published stories about me saying I was sending information out how to build bombs to the Hamas,” said a still incredulous Mordechai. “When I came out of prison the trial started.”
“We bring to testify the head of the Shabak [Ed: aka Shin Bet, the Secret Service, equivalent to the FBI in the United States]. He said that he received the information from his people and that he didn’t check it. And we proved that I don’t know any information about how to make bombs. But a year ago they win in the court.”
“How? Why?”
“The judge decided that the newspaper has the right to publish the story because it received it from the Shabak. Shabak is like the voice of god.”
“So you lost.”
“Big.”
“What do you mean, “big?”
“Well, if newspapers publish lies about me, you would think I have the right to receive compensation from the newspapers and they would be denied to publish more lies. But the judge decided, no, I should pay Yediot Aharanot $10,000.00. How can a newspaper be damaged by publishing such stories about me? So we are appealing this decision.
The hearing could be soon.”
Turning to the criminal charges against him for speaking to foreign journalists, I asked if his defense intends to call any more witnesses beyond the army general who signed the orders restricting his freedom of movement and speech.
“Yes, Peter Hounam, the reporter who in 1986 wrote the story I give the London Times about Israel’s nuclear bomb program. They have charged me that when I was released from prison in 2005, he was involved in a big interview which I gave to the BBC. But the allegation is not true because the interview was done by an Israeli journalist. But they deported him anyway. So we are negotiating about this,”
“About what?”
“Well, he has accepted to come, but the government wants to complicate the case by insisting to decide that they can refuse to let him come back. So they are saying he must have the same restrictions on him that they put on me. But he says that if they confine him to a hotel he will not come.”
“So what is being negotiated?”
“We accept not to bring him, if the government cancels this charge about the BBC interview. If they don’t take it out, we will bring him.”
“Do you see an element of persecution in all this governmental pressure?”
Unhesitatingly, Mordechai answered. “There is. It is my Christianity that they cannot accept. That is the source of my problems with my case.”
“All?”
“Yes, because even if they understand they need to make justice with me and let me go and let me speak, they have a problem with their people. What to do about a Christian man who was born a Jewish man who became a Christian and who received respect from all over the world. They don’t want this man to be receiving a good image especially with the young Israeli generation. So that is the first point.
“The second point is, because Israel is a Jewish State, the government believes they have the right to have the bomb. But I am coming and saying they don’t need to have the bomb. They need to make peace. And that is another source of the problem for them. But even with that I don’t understand why they are persecuting me. What are they afraid from?”
“But they say they know what they are afraid from. They say you have more secrets.”
“But they know that this is blah, blah, blah, because my secrets are twenty years old. All this nuclear weapons has continued to develop and all what I had was published twenty years ago. There is nothing new from me. And now North Korea has built the bomb. Iran is going to build the bomb. So what information can I contribute when it is twenty years old? Israel should let me go. They have had their revenge. Even killers murders in Israel are released after fifteen years, seventeen years. They let them go. Run away do what ever they want.”
“Are you hopeful?”
“I have my scenario that includes the hope that Israelis are also human beings and that one day they will wake up because they must wake up and become normal society. Because there still is danger that what they saw in the past one hundred fifty years, all those extreme nationalists, dictators, right wings that brought tyranny to Italy, Spain, Germany, South Africa, Russia all of them collapsed because they were not normal society. Their people woke up because they wanted normal society. But here we don’t have normal society. Here is Jewish religion society and even liberals here are speaking like they are dictators.
“Israel is not like the United States. People came from Europe to build new society in the name of freedom, liberty for all the human beings. But they didn’t respect the Indians in the beginning and the blacks. But then one day they woke up and start giving them rights. That is what normal society does. But here it is not normal society. It is about religion. So my scenario is when the Israel people who want normal society wake up it will be a total disaster for the Jewish state.”
“Supposing five years from now when I’m eighty and you are fifty-five, we are still here talking about your situation; we are talking about how every year the government renews the restrictions and the courts agree; and we are talking about your scenario that has stayed just a dream?”
“I hope when you are eighty I will meet you in Washington DC. But for that to be we need to do some extraordinary acts to get out from here.
“What kind of extraordinary acts?”
“I can tell you this way. Israel kidnapped me from Rome in 1986 and put me in prison. So I’m calling to the CIA and to all the world to kidnap me from Israel.”
“Kidnap you?”
“Yes, if some one or any organization will help me to try to get out from here. I will do it. And the Israelis know it very well. I am ready to leave the country in any way.”
“Even being spirited out?”
“Yes, because I am not allowed to go to foreign embassies where I can ask for asylum. That’s why they watch me, because they don’t want me to get out from here.”
“You want the CIA, special forces, whatever to do a reverse Entebbe?”
“Yes,” he said with a big grin, “the Marines. But I don’t think your military your defense establishment like me. Otherwise they would have helped me long ago. But the real government of the United States is the Pentagon. That is the power behind Israel. They give Israel two billion dollars and military power in support. And so those military maybe don’t like me because I am speaking against nuclear weapons and I am speaking for peace. So they are worried.”
“What you want to do is dangerous.”
“Yes. But you have done it. So I will be happy for anyone to take me out from this prison.”
When Israel became a state in 1948, it was contingent upon the upholding of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief…Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state…Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own…Article 13, 1-2
Eileen Fleming
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/a-request-to-be-kidnapped-from-jerusalem-79518.html
How much of the US debt is due to fraud, corruption and political bribery?
There is no question about whether we have debt or a deficit but how much of it was created by fraud, corruption and political bribery?
Our government is audited by the government. What are the chances of turning themselves in?
Obama stated he is going to fund the part of his health care bill with the 600 billion dollars of inefficiencies, fraud, and corruption already in the system. If he knows their is inefficiencies, fraud and corruption…..can’t you and shouldn’t you correct that regardless if the bill gets passed?
Do you think some other independent entity audit our government?
This question is a tall order,how much debt is due to all the above, followed by BS places like Acorn, cash for clunkers, and the list goes on.
Even if they did have say an outside agency investigate our government you know they would be bribed as well.
The first one I would start with would be Obama himself and work my way down
WHy didnt the united states do more to prevent the tyranny of communism during the cold war?
the united states was the only country after ww2 to have nuclear weapons so why didnt they nuke all of china and soviet union to put an end to those communists pigs once and for all?
We were loosely allied with the Soviet Union and China during the Second World War. And after the war, we were much more concerned with the return of Fascism than Communism. The Soviet Union wasn’t a big deal until they learned how to build nuclear weapons from scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico. The US didn’t know the Soviets built a nuclear weapon until they tested one in 1949.
Don’t forget that the Soviet Union doesn’t exist anymore. And China is our friend now. They provide us with cheap consumer goods. And they’ve loaned us almost a billion dollars. The only thing they don’t sell to us is oil. The American lifestyle would not be possible without Chinese worker doing 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for $125 a month.
PITTSBURGH G20 USA UN NEW WORLD ORDER MARTIAL LAW 379000 troops global bank riots protest bilderberg
http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-flynt-obama-cant-stand-up-to-the-bankers-2009-8
http://blacklistednews.com/news-5961-0-9-9–.html
Consider what multibillionaire banker David Rockefeller wrote in his 2002 memoirs:
“Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure — one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”
Read Rockefeller’s words again. He actually admits to working against the “best interests of the United States.”
PEACEFUL STUDENTS BEATEN! ANARCHISTS INFILTRATED, LRAD, TEAR GAS & FELONY CHARGES FOR INCITING RIOT BUT NOT TO THE ANARCHISTS!
NATIONAL GUARD (Federalized w/ Robert Gates Nov 28th 2008 via DoD Directive)& MILITARY http://www.progressive.org/wx081209b.html
ASSIST POLICE AT G20. They all arrived in advance at Carnegie.
FOLLOW THIS LINK TO SEE ALL THE BEATINGS AND GASSINGS OF THE PEACEFUL STUDENTS THAT WERE ATTACKED B/C THE ANARCHISTS SET THE PRECEDENT.
http://www.infowars.com/video-from-g20-the-corporate-media-will-never-show-you/
IMPORTANT SWINE FLU INFO
http://www.theflucase.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=647:len-horowitz-files-pandemic-charges-against-rockefeller&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=64&lang=en
http://www.consultingbyrpm.com/blog/2009/08/pentagon-seeks-authority-to-post-379000.html
Pentagon Seeks Authority to Post 379000 Troops in U.S.
DEATH OF THE US DOLLAR WITH THE SDR. THE IMF SDR BONDS ARE BEING BOUGHT BY CHINA, AS THEY SELL HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF THEIR USD T-BILLS & BONDS. THE NEW SUPRA-NATIONAL GLOBAL BANKING AUTHORITY IS HERE. “THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE AT DAVOS (SWITZERLAND, IBS, GLOBAL CENTRAL BANK” FINALLY HAVE THEIR WAY. HOW LONG TILL THIS BUBBLE WILL POP? INFLATION MUCH?
http://brucewiseman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58:hitlers-bank-goes-global&catid=34:finance&Itemid=27
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Bush Continues Crusade for Alternative Fuel
Last January 31, 2006, President George W. Bush outlined his plan for the widespread use of alternative fuels in the country. In his State of the Union Address last month, he announced a proposed mandate that 35 billion gallons of ethanol be produced until the year 2017. He also proposed to reduce the amount of emissions of greenhouse gasses by as much as 20 percent by the year 2017. Out of the 35 billion gallons mandated to be produced, 15 billion gallons of ethanol will come from starch while the 20 billion gallons will be from cellulose or cellulosic ethanol.
Cellulosic ethanol is a type of ethanol which comes from cellulose. This is different from the normal ethanol which comes from sugars and starches. This kind of ethanol is what Novozymes are helping to develop. The company has developed an enzyme cocktail that makes the mass production of cellulose ethanol possible. This technology is a better alternative to normal ethanol since the production of the latter causes the increase in the price of corn. This is because cellulosic ethanol comes from biomass including wastes from urban, agricultural, and forestry sources. In the production of this type of ethanol, no toxic emissions are generated which makes it a better alternative than other fuels.
Novozymes recently received a very distinguished guest – the President himself. Bush toured the facility’s laboratories and he also did pose for pictures with the workers of the company. The visit of the President at the facility is a part of his effort to boost the morale of those working in the alternative fuel industry. Aside from the financial support of the administration in the form of $2 billion aid in the funding of cellulosic ethanol plants, he also provides moral support though his visits to those plants such as that one in Novozymes.
The use of ethanol as fuel for cars in the United States is a part of the administration’s effort to address the problem of global warming. Ethanol is a good substitute to gasoline since it burns cleaner than gasoline. The only thing to consider about the use of ethanol as fuel is its corrosive nature. Without fortification, engine parts like Volvo 240 parts will be corroded. To combat this corrosive nature of ethanol, car manufacturers and engine designers fortify different components of the car to take on the corrosive nature of ethanol.
With the increasing awareness of the global community towards addressing the global warming issue, the United States is on its track towards making a difference. The country has been criticized in the past for being one of the major causes of the destruction of the environment. With the steps being taken by the government and the private sector, alternative fuels like ethanol will one day be the most commonly used fuel by the majority on US roads. Aside from the development of ethanol as the fuel of the future, US agencies are also developing biodiesel for use of vehicles equipped with a diesel engine. Aside from these two alternative fuels, the US market is also being flooded with hybrid cars which also reduce the dependency of the country on imported oil fossil fuels.
President Bush’s commitment to the development of alternative fuel is a great boost for the industry. With the government’s backing, more and more alternative fuels can be produced which will result to cleaner emission by vehicles. The development of these alternative fuels can also increase the number of employed person in the country. It would also decrease the dependency of the country on other countries which produce oil and then later on export them to the US.
Glady Reign
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/bush-continues-crusade-for-alternative-fuel-110391.html