Donors' focus on 'politics'

In the first place, there is nothing that the donor community says that it is not common knowledge within the country as well as abroad. The donors are not the only ones who point to the abuse of power, politicisation of the administration and law enforcement, and corruption as problems. These are points that have been raised by the media and civil society repeatedly and the fact that they are being raised by the donors does not make them any less valid.

And, contrary to the finance minister's statement, issues such as corruption, politicisation, and abuse of power are development issues. It is now well documented that it is the failure of governance that is the principal stumbling block when it comes to the nation's development, and so it is in fact quite appropriate for the donors to continue to focus on this issue. Nor do we find that the donors are critical only of the government and not the opposition, as has been suggested.

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Indeed, what makes the minister's words so hard to take seriously is that when the current administration was in opposition, it was the first to use the donors' criticisms against the then government and seemed to give great weight to their pronouncements. The minister's current complaints therefore smack of hypocrisy. In fact, our experience invariably has been that the party in power waxed dismissive about any unsavoury remark by the donor community while that in the opposition elated over it.

In the final analysis, if the government wishes for the donor community to quiet down about 'the internal affairs', the means to accomplish this are in its hands. If the government performed in a manner that was above reproach, then it would no longer have to worry about the indignity of being reproached.