Grifters in high places

First of 2011....It's been busy, so I hadn't gotten time to jot down anything. I have been exploring some interesting information on my pet subject (corruption). Interesting happenings around the globe towards tackling the vice also caught my eye and got me thinking...we aren't that bad after all...it is only the magnitude that differs and the sums involved. This i can illustrate by one of my favourite stories on corruption.

There were two Civil Engineering students from Malaysia and Nigeria, Aang' and Ayedepo (Sorry I had to use these examples...no offense intended!) who were bosom buddies in England where they pursued their undergraduate degrees with enthusiasm....They were just starting off on life and had big dreams on what they would do with their lives once unleashed onto the world. Well as it always happens, it was time to part ways as they completed their studies. Aang' and Ayedepo promised to keep in touch as they went back to their respective countries.

By coincidence, both were employed by their respective governments in the ministries dealing with road and infrastructure construction. Two years after they parted ways, Ayedepo now an assistant Engineer in his State receives an invitation from his friend Aang' to visit him in Malaysia. Aang' had arranged everything..and I mean evary-thang!Business class tickets to Kuala Lumpur, a limousine to pick him up from the airport to his mansion in the leafy suburbs of Damansara Heights. Ayedepo was awe-struck as he walked around with his mouth wide open at all the pleasures of life his good friend Aang' had managed to amass in just under two years. half a dozen sports cars were neatly parked in his garage and the compound had the state of the art security system.

Then Ayedepo asked the obvious question,.."Aang'..how did you come across all this in under two years?"...Aang' laughed and pointed to the bridge that connects the mainland to the Pulau Indah industrial park..."See that bridge?" he asked..

.."Oh yeah..", replied Ayedepo, as Aang' proceeds to rub his belly.....

.."10%..",Aang says while laughing.

Ayedepo never forgot the good time he had in Malaysia as Aang' gave him a tour of a lifetime. On getting back home, he took a year and extended a similar invitation to Aang' . Aang' being used

to the trappings of wealth was pleasantly surprised to get a first class ticket to Lagos and from Lagos was picked up by a chopper to ferry him to Ayedepo's ranch. Ayedepo had a 100 hectare ranch complete with an artificial lake and a country castle to boot. As the chopper landed, Aang' was led past an environmentally controlled garage that housed a dozen super cars and the occasional Bentley and Rolls Royce. Even before he could take in anymore, Aang' patted Ayedepo on the back when he finally met him...."My good friend Ayedepo...that was quick! How did you do all this in less than two years?..."

Ayedepo was still laughing trying to catch his breath as he motioned to his friend Aang'..."Aang' my dear friend, you taught me a lot when I swung by Kuala Lumpur the last time we met...Do you see that road?..." he said pointing into the horizon..

"What road?.." replied Aang' struggling to see what his friend was pointing at..Ayedepo proceeded to rub his belly.."100%.."

Moral of the story you may ask...This story unfortunately has no morals, but the drift of it is that everywhere in the world unfortunately, the vice exists and it is only the degree of abuse and the level of exposure of those guilty of engaging in the vice (the ones who get caught they say!) that varies. BAE systems for example in the UK involved over £2bn yes...pounds! thats about KES 260bn in fishy payments exchanging hands in the now infamous Al Yamamah contract (It was worth £80bn by the way!)...and what happened to the investigations? well after some veiled threats from the Saudis involved in the contract of not cooperating in the fight against terror and sharing information with the UK, "In public" interest, the Serious Fraud Office, an apparently independent body in the UK that fights graft was prevailed upon to discontinue the investigations. The anti-fraud section of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) to which the UK is a member did raise eyebrows and officially wrote a protest letter on the blatant disregard by the British government in curtailing the fraud investigations on account of safeugarding national and international security. (You can watch a video of this BAE case on the link below)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/blackmoney/view/?utm_campaign=searchpage&utm_medium=videosearch&utm_source=videosearch?autoplay

Anyway I hope the IMF and World Bank sanction the UK sometime in the future over this heh heh heh....