(Published in Weekly Issue 410, 23-29 July 2020)
Mrs Rashida Nanhuck was cast aside as Chief Executive Officer of Mauritius Standards Bureau and in her place they appointed a crony- one of theirs. The appointment of political nominees has reached a new high-MSB, FSC, BOM, Museum Council, DBM, EDB,….
Sometime back, some researches on the Mauritian economy, had identified the quality of our institutions as one of the important determinants that launched Mauritius on a development path quite unique in the region and nurtured the gradual emergence of the "Indian Ocean Tiger". The functioning democratic traditions and institutions helped to develop a social consensus without which the continuous and consistent programme of economic liberalisation would not have been possible.
The quality of the country's institutions, especially the institutions of conflict management, helped in building the necessary consensus among the majority of the population to accommodate the coalition between the political and economic elite built on the premise that the quota rents from the EU and US markets were properly utilised into productive sectors and in building up the social infrastructure to meet the developmental, social insurance and social assistance goals. This important determinant of growth, that is, the ability of our domestic institutions to manage the distributional conflicts triggered by local and external shocks, stands out markedly in our case. The quality of our domestic institutions seems to override the other primordial factors affecting growth.
In the last decade or more, our average economic growth rate has just been decent but the country has not succeeded in adding new pillars of growth, in reskilling its labour force to take advantage of the new technologies and demand for multi-skills and in creating enough of new employment opportunities for the youth. The increasing number of unskilled labour and idle youth would not only lead to economic loss for the country, but will also result in disastrous social consequences in the future. On top of that we have now the new problem of rising unemployment due to the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.
This is why it is important ,at this critical juncture ,that we have institutions which are strong, well-functioning and well-resourced and that are capable of delivering public services and can fully engage with multiple stakeholders, These institutions, formal and informal, determine how decisions are made, how resources are allocated, how well markets function, how natural resources are governed, how conflicts are managed and how violence and crime are prevented and addressed. Our “momentous engagement with freedom’s possibilities ” and the new challenges of globalization meant that our institutions had to be continually nurtured and strengthened to be rooted deeply within society.
But recent events reveal a dramatically altered political reality and governance. The new claimants on the political scene are aiming at absolute power. They are robbing our great traditions and institutions of their greatness, of our passion for fairness and impartiality, of our culture of discussion and tolerance, of our respect of our adversaries and our determination to frame policies for greater economic and social equity.
We have now a new breed of politicians who suffer from an ethical and governance deficit. They reek of totalitarian sulphur and run our institutions like personal fiefdoms with their over bloated egos and arrogance and the accompanying vulgarity to squash anyone who dares not cow down before them like whipped curs. They are more at ease with their very own, the sycophants and supplicants. Their political manoeuvres and calculations are driven by one instinct: regime survival at any cost. And we are paying very dearly for this through their autocratic and populist policies. As one of our erudite political stalwarts remarked recently “ Are we still nursing the fast-fading illusion that we are the leaders in Africa ! In the corruption and ‘democraticide” stakes, most certainly !
One by one, our institutions are being infected with toxic polarisation and sapped by the chums that are taking over these independent institutions. Our trust in this government and most of the institutions that frame our society, captured by the cronies for their own profits, are being eroded. Instead of well-functioning, trustworthy and independent institutions adhering to the rule of law and more of social justice, we see a prevalence of hollowed institutions and state capture; it is time to start worrying that we may be undermining the country’s hopes for future growth and development.
I have had the opportunity to interact and work with this competent lady, acting CEO of MSB, when we were preparing the very demanding Corporate Objectives Statement (COS) of the MSB which included, among others, its Corporate Mandate, the Mission and Vision Statement, the Corporate Strategies and the Action Plans and Performance Targets over the short to medium term. She impressed me with her exceptional skills, especially her in-depth knowledge of and the needs of the organisation and the challenges ahead.
She was the RIGHT PERSON AT THE RIGHT PLACE to ensure that the operation and work of the organisation were closely aligned with the policies and performance targets to provide cost effective and reliable market relevant standards (with an internationally recognized conformity assessment services) to all sectors of the economy in order to enhance our competitiveness and confront the challenges of globalization. This country needs more of such people.
You understand now why we have to start worrying where these irresponsible people wallowing in the sludges of crony capitalism are taking our country!!!
