Sunday 26 July 2009

The disgrace of political class in Vanuatu has left the detrimental consequences being endured by the vast majority of average Ni-Vanuatu’s population

The disgrace of political class in Vanuatu has left the detrimental consequences being endured by the vast majority of average Ni-Vanuatu’s population: from an indigenous Ni- Vanuatu perspective


Vanuatu is an archipelago in the South West Pacific with approximately 215,000 inhabitants. The country is relatively small, and is still unknown to a lot of people especially in Europe. As Vanuatu celebrates its 29th anniversary of independence this week, there is considerable amount of rhetoric about the country’s tourism led growth but the reality is that per capita has not improved a lot since 1980, in fact it remains stagnant yet there has been tourism, offshore financial centre and land sales driven growth. How much of this accrues to the indigenous Ni-Vanuatu? The truth is not a lot I am afraid. This is neo-colonialism at its worst. The problem is that Vanuatu Government or so called Government officials pretend not to understand or probably are just arrogantly turning a blind eye pertaining to the issue, or are they reaping the benefits of this boom? My view is a bit of both. Realistically, the power of multi-nationals and their interests are too influential. What to do? Better governance and the Government should focus more on protecting the interests of Indigenous Ni-Vanuatu.

Over the last few weeks, the media reports from Vanuatu indicate that the under fire Minister of Trades James Bule has been pressured to resign from his Ministerial post. However, the latter has defied the public outcry, especially from being succumbed to pressure of resigning. The calls for Mr Bule to resign comes from the opposition bloc, including from the notably vociferous former speaker of the parliament who is also the MP for Luganville Town, Mr George Wells. The incumbent Minister of Trade has been vigorously blamed for a missing 40,000,000 Vatu within the VCMB. Sadly, the considerable sum of money remains unaccountable for. The controversial Minister of Trade claims that there is no evidence to substantiate the allegation; however, there is merely phony evidence for the sole purpose of impugning his ministerial reputation. In spite of his defense, it has not satisfied the public; it seems that a sudden rage has propelled the public especially from the vast majority of average Ni-Vanuatu who are depending on copra to make ends meet. A dire consequence of the VCMB fiasco has resulted in many parents in rural areas such as in Santo which produces the highest copra export revenue for the country are being left unable to send their children to School. The copra prices have been plummeted recently which has just exacerbated the situation further especially for the rural residents. Ni-Vanuatu politicians are known to forgetting their rural residents, the latter group is invariably forgotten and marginalized in our society, a prime example is the people of Torres whom the Vanuatu Government has negligently forgotten them, there is no shred of evidence thus far that suggests Vanuatu Government has been bumping revenue into Torba province for development purposes let alone proper social services delivery to the unforgotten people of Torres.


The aforementioned alleged corruption epitomizes how corruption is rife in Vanuatu. Notwithstanding the bitter accusations and recriminations following the VCMB fiasco, however, whether the Minister will resign it remains to be seen. Historically, a notable infamous alleged corruption within the precedent governments was to do with the then Minister of land Mr. Maxim Korman with his infamous dealings with land. This had once resulted in the public outcry to demand the latter to resign, and notably it culminated in the convening of the land summit in Port Vila, in 2006. These are just examples of how corruption perpetuates in Vanuatu or just the tip of the iceberg.


It should be noted that corruption does occur in every country from developing countries to developed ones or from the biggest democratic countries like Britain to a smaller developing country such as Vanuatu. The problem though is that the occurrences of corruption in a developing country especially when it involves pecuniary loss of the public revenue, it consequently affects more on service delivery of social services in a developing country than in a developed country. This is why Vanuatu politicians must never become so arrogant that they think they are no longer answerable for their actions. With regard to the aforementioned VCMB debacle, Mr Bule risks becoming arrogant in power as some of his historic adversaries in the opposition bloc, by systematically refusing to answer the questions or refusing to resign. Vanuatu needs more leaders willing to err in the pursuit of the public good and citizens who learn to discard and not recycle those whose sole ambition is to cling to power. No one is born to rule.






© Indigenous-Ni-Vanuatu