| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
snuggels
960 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 00:06:58
|
Tamsier
My opinion is Nigeria has the worst reputation but Gambia is catching up
Read on
THE NEW YORK TIMES
It's Your Money or Strife in Zaire, Where Corruption Reigns
Traveler to Zaire, beware!
Stepping off the sweltering tarmac at Ndjili, the new arrival becomes a helpless fish in a sea of sharks.
Snap! The passport disappears, perhaps taken by the man with some kind of emblem fastened to his lapel by a paper clip. Snip! The luggage goes off in two directions.
The visitor is led into a darkened office for interrogation. The passport magically reappears. But there are problems: Something strange about the visa, perhaps. An ulterior motive for your visit? The questions swirl into a crescendo of accusations.
But perhaps all this can be overlooked. A $50 bill on the table is scooped up like raw bait.
More money is required to locate the suitcases and get through customs and then to pay off the touts and soldiers who cram into the taxi peeling off toward the capital.
The departure is worse, for now the visitor has been here long enough to commit certain offenses. Smuggling? Black market trading? Spying? The interrogation can last an hour or more. It slows to an impasse as the flight is being announced.
The extortion of money from visitors by officials who receive no regular pay is only the most superficial manifestation of a malady that runs deep in Zaire and some other African countries. Corruption is a constant source of conversation, but it is never mentioned in studies by the World Bank or the United Nations.
Unlike eruptions of scandals in, say, Italy or Japan, the corruption here never erupts; it is a constant, diplomats, scholars and Africans themselves say. It runs up and down through the entire country, from the soldier in sunglasses who flags down a motorist to extract a bribe for an imaginary infraction to President Mobutu Sese Seko, who has become one of the world's richest men by plundering Zaire's treasury.
"This isn't just greasing the wheels so that the pie keeps growing. It's an impediment to growth, pure and simple," said an American State Department official.
The gross national product of almost all countries south of the Sahara has been in a decline for over a decade, and while there are many reasons for this, corruption and economic mismanagement rank high among them.
Nigeria, gushing with oil and go-for-broke capitalism, is widely deemed to be the most corrupt country in West Africa. Beginning in the early 1970's -- when 20 million tons of cement was ordered in a kickback scheme that clogged the harbor with sinking freighters -- generations of leaders have enriched themselves.
The Economist magazine estimated in April that about $3 billion -- or 10 percent of the gross domestic product -- "disappeared" out of Nigeria's public accounts in 1992.
If Nigeria is the king of "dash" in West Africa, Zaire is the undisputed champion in central Africa. "Everything is for sale -- anything can be bought in our country," Mr. Mobutu once said.
One former Foreign Minister, Nguza Karl-I-Bond -- who was sentenced to death for treason and fled into exile and is inexplicably back working as a deputy defense minister -- testified in Washington in the 1970's that Mr. Mobutu had stashed away $5 billion.
One Western diplomat said he thinks the president "operates more like a franchise system -- he'll give you the exclusive right to import chickens from Europe or to sell fish to the army or to operate cellular telephones."
Not long ago, Telecel, a largely American-owned company, was granted an exclusive contract to operate a cellular phone system. Then another outfit mysteriously appeared, owned by the son of Bemba Saolona, one of Mr. Mobutu's closest associates. Telecel cables were cut. Then a microwave appeared on a nearby building, jamming its antenna. Local papers call it the "battle of the frequencies," but nobody doubts who is going to win.
|
Edited by - snuggels on 22 Sep 2008 00:14:46 |
|
|
Janko
Gambia
1267 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 00:15:05
|
Mmmmmmm, Gambia....you like Gambia donīt you
Please give a link to the site, if you can, thanks |
Clean your house before pointing a finger ... Never be moved by delirious Well-wishers in their ecstasy |
Edited by - Janko on 22 Sep 2008 00:16:08 |
 |
|
|
snuggels
960 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 00:25:59
|
| Sorry Janko I dont have a link it was something I just copied to a word document Maybe search The New York Times ok |
|
|
|
Hiz Princess
United Kingdom
464 Posts |
|
|
snuggels
960 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 01:13:36
|
Stick to the posting and forget the snide remarks
If you must know Janko YES I did like it not so many years ago but not so much now. Does that make you chuckle Hiz |
Edited by - snuggels on 22 Sep 2008 01:28:49 |
|
|
|
Hiz Princess
United Kingdom
464 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 11:32:02
|
quote:
Originally posted by snuggels
Stick to the posting and forget the snide remarks
If you must know Janko YES I did like it not so many years ago but not so much now. Does that make you chuckle Hiz
Your response to me made me smile, but please dont be annoyed at me I didnt mean to offend you.
I actually find it sad, that things have change for you and the place it once was is no more.
I fear you are not the only one that feels like this.
Sorry back to topic...
I'm not sure if its as bad as this but,I have to admit the intimidation at the airport is getting worse.
People are paying fines for bringing in their own mobile phones, Lap tops etc and this is more frequent, none of which does tourism any favours.
|
|
|
|
MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 12:46:05
|
This is all stale news! We are in 2008 for heavens sake. |
madiss |
|
|
|
sab
United Kingdom
912 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 12:54:21
|
http://www.worldaudit.org/corruption.htm (2007)
|
The world would be a poorer place if it was peopled by children whose parents risked nothing in the cause of social justice, for fear of personal loss. (Joe Slovo - African revolutionary) |
|
|
|
MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 13:15:39
|
| Thanks Sab for bringing us back to modern times |
madiss |
|
|
|
MeMe
United Kingdom
541 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 14:02:08
|
quote:
Originally posted by sab
http://www.worldaudit.org/corruption.htm (2007)
Hmmm - nothing changed here then, Sab??? This is indeed a time when points don't mean prizes  |
It is better to die standing than to live on your knees - Ernesto Guevara de la Serna |
|
|
|
snuggels
960 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 14:11:54
|
| Stale news But not a lot has changed. Not much difference between the two |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Topic Locked
