A devastating fire destroys a lively village within hours and people are burnt alive, but no immediate relief and compensation package by the government is in sight. A sitting Supreme Court judge is shot dead in broad daylight, challenging the security situation of the country where no criminal is arrested on time. Corruption, a socio-political disease, is swallowing up our political culture and bureaucratic ethics and yet, no policymaker bothers to bring the derailed anti-corruption values back on track. Shortage of petroleum products, scarcity of drinking water in the valley, irregular supply of electricity and extremely poor service delivery arrangement in rural areas are making life extremely difficult for the common man, but no one is responsible in general and no institution is accountable in particular. There are glaring examples of the dismal state of governance in this country.
According to the World Bank, aggregated indicator on corruption control for good governance, Nepal stood fourth in 2010, behind Bhutan, India and Maldives in the SAARC region. Similarly, the indicator on government effectiveness portrayed an unhealthy picture of Nepal, which stood at sixth spot in SAARC after Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Pakistan. Instead of adopting fitting measures to correct the existing weaknesses, the government is still battling its own internal problems. A government’s internal crisis and its role in discharging effective public services are two separate matters that need to be handled circumspectly and wisely.
It needs to be understood that people first want to see their grievances addressed in a timely manner and they would like have public services discharged in a more transparent and effective way. The bureaucracy, in this context, should be at the forefront to address the given issues because of its nature as a ‘permanent government’.
However, the current bureaucracy, dismally unmotivated, finds it difficult to render quality services to the citizens. There is no doubt that the ultimate responsibility of practicing and strengthening good governance lies on the shoulders of the public sector, but the private sector also ought to share equal responsibility in the context of a globalized market economy. In most studies of transparency and accountability, the role of the private sector is hardly ever studied and discussed. It is imperative to encourage and foster a culture of good governance both in the government and the private sector.
None of the political leaders, bureaucrats and service providers has ever brought any of the burning public issues about governance and service delivery to the fore for widespread discourse to identify why government’s effectiveness and governance is deteriorating.
Considering that corruption is primarily responsible for a weak governance system, too little has been done to reduce corruption.
For the last six years, in the name of ‘post-conflict transition’, the government has expected to be exempted from upholding the mission of good governance. But how long will people remain patient? How long will this ‘transition period’ last? And now, with the unfortunate demise of the CA without fulfilling its mandate and the political chaos and trust deficit that has followed, the chances of the emergence of good governance seem even bleaker. Ironically, this is the kind of critical juncture where a good and accountable governance system is needed the most to build a concrete foundation for a stable future.
“What worries me more than anything among our problems is that of moral decadence in our country. There is the problem of bribery, corruption, lack of dedication to duty, dishonesty, and all such vices,” said Shehu Shagari in 1982, when he was the Nigerian president. About a year later, his civilian government was overthrown in a military coup, which the army General justified by ‘the need to control corruption’. The new junta government, however, failed to usher in good governance. Trouble-ridden Nigeria became even more corrupt, alienating its citizens further from their government and making the economy more vulnerable.
The Nigerian experience can be instrumental in helping Nepal learn more about the importance and need for good governance in the present context of political vacuum both at the national and local levels.
Good governance is weakened when political parties, bureaucracy and the private sector illicitly put their own interests above those of the people. Corruption, unaccountable political decision makers, inconsistent application of laws, internal security threat, absence of catalytic local governments and government policy evaporation are some of the hindrances to fostering a culture of good governance. Giving the poor access to resources and power as well as basic services and infrastructure is a must for which the government’s positive intervention is a prerequisite. Due to the unstable macro-economy, high rate of inflation, large scale unemployment and a lopsided balance of payments, good governance is adversely affected.
But this, unfortunately, is a vicious cycle. While these adverse circumstances affect the culture of governance on one hand, on the other, it is equally true that only good and effective governance can overcome these negative conditions. It is, thus, time that Nepal works towards ushering in a new era, an era of good and positive governance.
The writer is ex-Home Secretary
Kusum100@hotmail.com
Related story
Where there is government, there is corruption!
