Fighting corruption requires tough people

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THE “40th day” of thieves is here, and their crimes are being exposed, but this is not the end of it, as many are still protected.

Therefore, petty thieves try to hide many of their crimes so as not to expose those who protect them, but when the courts began to become abuzz with their thefts, some of them fled the country, and others tried to fabricate lies and charges against others in order to keep the spotlight away from them.

Here we are, with the noose tightening around the “suspects”. Those who cover them up are exposed, and they work to violate the law in order to stay away from prison.

Kuwait is not the only country where corruption has spread in this manner. There are several other countries that have suffered from it. The thieves in those countries had once claimed that they were above suspicion, but when the 40th day saw the light of accountability, they found themselves behind bars, even though they were senior officials.

However, when the law is implemented by hands that are not shaky and there is determination to cleanse the institutions, then the familial, sectarian and tribal pride becomes just unnecessary adornment, and the mouthpiece of the corrupt starts bubbling as if the fall of the corrupt will be the fall of everything else that exists.

This matter is useful for the state to heal from diseases and correct its course. This is what happened in Singapore, when Lee Kuan Yew launched the reform process. He was the surgeon whose scalpel cut the boils of corruption and extracted the pus from the institutions.

This also happened in the United Arab Emirates when Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid smelled corruption in some circles in Dubai. He worked to remove its causes first and hold those involved in it accountable. This also happened in Qatar where a finance minister and a number of officials were imprisoned.

As for the painful operation for the health of the state that took place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, based on directives from King Salman bin Abdulaziz, arrested dozens of princes, businesspersons and personalities who were famous and were considered above accountability, but they suddenly found themselves not equal to the wing of a mosquito when the time for reckoning came. In all of this, the leaders were the ones who imposed the punishment according to the law.

The countries that treated this disease, sometimes with painful operations, were protecting the homeland from internal betrayal, about which Napoleon said, “The one who betrayed his people and sold his country is like the one who steals from his father’s money to feed the thieves. Neither his father forgives him nor the thieves reward him.”

We are living in a strange situation in Kuwait where theft seems to thrive. In many institutions, unqualified people are appointed to sensitive, economic, security and political positions, and they are protected by an influential person. Such a person does not serve the state, but rather serves the one who appointed him, and caters for his personal interests, because he realizes when the time comes for him to leave office, he will become a “scapegoat”. In both cases, he is still considered a traitor to the homeland.

Therefore, if there is a determination to reform and rid the country of the scourge of corruption and theft, those who appointed these people, those who protect them, and those who worked to facilitate their tasks must be brought to justice.

However, if the situation remains as it is and selectivity prevails in accountability, then the “40th day” of thieves will never come to be.

Building the nation and maintaining its institutions require strong, honest, determined and willing tough people to do so, and not people who love praises and promote favoritism, nepotism, partisan and “this is our son” mentality.

In this regard, there is a popular saying – “There are those who heard that the country was expensive, so they sold it”. Doesn’t this apply to someone who was appointed in a sensitive position and betrayed his trust, either a minister, a prime minister, or even a junior employee?

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

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