When the Local Government Commission of Inquiry report was presented to President Adama Barrow three days ago, one could not fail to notice the zeal in his voice for swift and thorough implementation of the commission’s recommendations.
There is no gainsaying that the testimonies rendered at the commission about financial mismanagement in our local governments have exposed gaping hole in local governance. The testimonies laid bare the councils’ financial and administrative malaise, highlighting the need and urgency for accountability and reforms. Every butut pilfered must be recovered, every position undeservedly given must be taken back and punitive measures must be taken to deter recurrence of the bad local governance practices we have all seen or heard about.
However, for President Barrow to be taken seriously in his professed crusade against graft, he must begin giving out charity at his own home first because charity, they say, begins at home. Who will take Mr. Barrow seriously when he is not seen to be serious in cleaning the mess in his own house?
The numerous audit reports from the national audit office have left no one in doubt that the Barrow administration was riddled with corruption and allied practices and it may still be. Instead of implementing the recommendations, Mr. Barrow deliberately decided to adopt a hostile posture towards the audit reports, describing them as mere opinions. And we are talking of millions and millions of taxpayer money here that could not be accounted for.
You see, the fight against official corruption must be puritanical and purgatory through and through. It doesn’t matter whose cow is goad. There should be no sacred cow and there should be no sacrificial lamb. In other words, there should be no selective justice or selective outrage. It would, therefore, be legally and morally correct for Mr. Barrow to clean his own house before attempting to clean the mess of others.
