Guest
Most references to public servants are usually to civil servants employed by the State to man its various departments and agencies. The definition of public servants however, includes government employees in the armed forces, the police force, secret service agencies, state-owned enterprises and parastatals. Politicians including the President and his deputy, Governors, deputy Governors, members of the legislature, party leaders and other party officials are public servants as well.
Like other public servants, politicians have the primary responsibility of serving the interests of their masters- the people- in accordance with codes of conduct defined in the constitution of the nation concerned, the civil service code, and the unwritten social contract existing between them and the public. The latter defines socially-permissible conduct meant to promote exemplary conduct by public servants and indicate the spirit in which they should perform their duties, how to avoid conflicts of interests, and what is expected of them in terms of their personal conduct in public and private life.
It is the responsibility of the public to bring public servants including politicians, to account whenever they deviate from socially-acceptable norms. Where public servants run foul of the code of conduct, they are sanctioned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the law and in the case of politicians, rejection at the polls. In the United Kingdom for instance, such power of control by the public over the conduct of politicians is currently being demonstrated. Several members of the UK House of Parliament (MPs) are currently embroiled in a financial scandal that has snowballed into a crisis of confidence in their integrity and capacity to hold public office.
As recently revealed by The Sunday Telegraph newspaper, some MPs benefited from thousands of pounds paid under the second home expenses system under which MPs are refunded their expenses on homes they designate their second home. In the scandal that is now threatening to end the political careers of those involved- MPs from all the major parties- hundreds of thousands of tax payers’ money were claimed by MPs as refunds for their expenses on items ranging from the ridiculous to the bizarre. In an obvious abuse of privileges, some MPs claimed for expenses on items like ice cube tray, horse manure, toilet roll holders and tealights.
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As the Telgraph newspaper reported, examples ranged from a former government whip who “bought out” his partner from her share of a London flat at a cost to the taxpayer of thousands of pounds to a Tory grandee who spent thousands of pounds of public funds on his country estate before selling it making thousands of pounds from the property boom in the process. A Conservative shadow minister claimed £7,000 for a bedroom suite and £2,200 for a television, while a Labour election co-ordinator bought 16 bed sheets within the space of two months for a one-bedroom flat.
Nigerian politicians and electorate need to learn lessons from the stench emanating from Whitehall. First is the speed with which leaders of the major parties and the British public reacted to the scandal. For instance, David Chaytor, a backbench Labour MP, was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party after he admitted he had claimed nearly £13,000 for a mortgage on a London flat after he paid off the mortgage. The public has expressed utter dismay and distrust of politicians of all shades as a result of the scandal. Two new opinion polls confirmed the damage being sustained by the main political parties over the expenses scandal with more than a third of voters (38 per cent) now asking that Prime Minister Gordon Brown should call a snap election as voters looked set to punish mainstream parties at the ballot box next month. Without doubt, the image of, and public confidence in politicians have taken huge bashings which might take years to fix. Across the country, people struggling on low wages, losing their jobs and struggling with mortgages are expressing their anger over the gross abuse of mandates by their representatives.
The Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service are also considering whether to start a criminal inquiry following the Telegraph’s exposure of the misuse of the expenses system by MPs. Moreover, one minister has stepped down from his post, two Labour MPs have been suspended from the parliamentary labour party, while a parliamentary aide to the Conservative leader has resigned his role. Prime Minister Gordon Brown also pledged to take action against ministers who abused the expenses system and claimed he was “appalled and angered” by the disclosures.
According to Mr Brown, “The bottom line is that any MP who is found to have defied the rules will not be serving in my government.” The Prime Minister also took steps to restore public confidence in the political system by pledging appropriate sanctions against those found to have abused their privileges, stating inter alia, “I want to assure every citizen of my commitment to a complete clean-up of the system- that wherever and whenever immediate disciplinary action is required I will take it.”
Meanwhile, the position of Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, remains under threat as a result of the way he handled the scandal. Labour’s national executive is also considering proposals to deselect MPs who have made improper expense claims and to bar them from standing at the next election, while David Cameron, the Conservative leader and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democratic Party leader, have been shooting from the hips at their party members involved in the scandal. If only Nigerian politicians can learn a lesson from these developments. Unfortunately, our politicians are public masters who are above the law. They never submit to rules of appropriate social conduct.
