Picture credit: Bible Society / Andrew Boyd
Case studies on greed and corruption
Case study 1: Mobuto Sese Seko, dictator, Belgian Congo
ABLI speaker Rev Mfanaleni Mkhatshwa told the Forum: ‘Much as the late Mobuto Sese Seko did so much for the liberation of Belgian Congo, he is criticised for having nationalised many foreign-owned companies, especially in the mining sector. Instead of giving the benefits or profits to his impoverished people, he channelled them into his own pockets and bank accounts.
’According to Professor P.L.O. Lumumba, Sese Seko spent most of his time increasing his personal fortune. In 1984 that was estimated at US$5 billion – almost equivalent to the country's foreign debt at the time.
’Sese Seko owned a fleet of Mercedes-Benz vehicles that he used to travel between his numerous palaces, while the nation's roads rotted and many of his people starved.’
(Source: Professor Lumumba, in a speech to the 3rd Anti-Corruption Convention in December 2013, Kampala, Uganda.)
Case study 2: Angola
Angola was one of the three largest recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa between 2000 to 2002. The country enjoys economic success and a booming oil industry.
Yet, said Rev Mkhatshwa, two-thirds of the population still lives below the poverty line on less than US$2 a day. They do not see the benefits of the industry.
He argued that cases such as Angola and the Congo ‘demonstrate the extent of greed and corruption in Africa still prevalent in many countries.’
Almost all the problems that Africa faces today concern moral regeneration, he said. The only way ahead for Africa was to embrace the Bible’s teaching on stewardship, human dignity and equality.
Yet despite the challenges of corruption and inequality facing the continent, Rev Mkhatshwa maintained: ‘There is great good that can come out of Africa. The African continent was, and remains, the glory of planet Earth.’
ENDS
Andrew Boyd
