IT was my late good friend and Lucian playwright Stanley French who wrote a play in the seventies called ‘The Rape of Fair Helen’, but based on the information spouted by the present government, I tend to believe that ‘rape’ is still going on.
It is difficult to determine which truth is truthful, considering one party says that the previous government acted in a particular way that suggests that there was a lot of squandering and mis-management of the people’s monies, while the past government refutes all allegations and defends their actions by giving their own justifications for all their actions.
The facts are never clear-cut and the evidence is difficult to get and there is always an explanation and rational reason, why such actions were taken or decisions were made by the accused.
Nobody ever admits that the statements or findings are indeed correct and neither are there any apologies.
One accuses, the other defends their actions – and we Joe Blows are left to simply believe or disbelieve whichever one we choose.
The bottom line is that it is clear to see that there was and possibly still is a lot of squandering going on. There are several players, some at the administration level and some as recipients, some making decisions that create the leakages and some are very good at manipulating, while they all cover their tracks.
In the meantime, we keep on borrowing and keep making pronouncements, and planning our future and making excuses for not delivering, and blaming one another.
In most cases, the truth is what you interpret it to be, and, right or wrong, we have to go with the flow, because the top of the line criminals are never identified, or taken to task, or found guilty, far-less made to account for their misdeeds.
Between the two parties and their administrators, their hacks and the suckers that profit and benefit, we consider such action as no big thing, or better still, we say that this is no big deal.
When those at the bottom are caught in a slackness they are taken before the courts, but when you hear about scams emanating from the top, it is usually swept under the carpet.
There are two laws in this country: one for the low class and another for the upper class; one sector is under-paid, while the other gets handsomely paid. Some get paid in coins, while some get paid in millions of dollars.
We seek change but the more things change the more things remain the same.
When it comes to justice, some get it, some hope for it, and some are not put on trial – in fact, the catch phrase these days is that “We are waiting for the Special Prosecutor.”
So, until such time, the smart (ones) get away with murder, and those without “Baka” (back-up support) end up in jail.
But, may I remind some that the longest rope has an end and one of these days the unthinkable will happen and the tables will turn and change.
Take a page from the African continent, where the exploiters and the manipulators and those who have exploited for centuries and decades are now under the microscope. The oppressed, one day, will be victorious whiles the real culprits will have to pay for their misdeeds.
As those of us of my age still say, Tanti, Tanto!