What is truth and who is a true person? Spiritually and philosophically a true person is someone who is sincere, selfless and sacrificial while serving others and giving freely without expecting anything in return. Shakespeare gave a famous description when he said “To thine own self be true and it must follow, as the night the day and you cannot be false to anyone”. 

In most if not all countries today the leadership and especially the political leadership often if not always falls short of the truth and of being a truthful person. Instead in most instances we see grabbing and not giving by leaders who could be described as hypocrites, whitewashed sepulchers or sanctimonious humbugs.   Indeed during the past two years the Covid pandemic and its new highly transmissible Omicron variant, rising fuel prices and as a result the prices of most essential items and other factors have plunged most developing countries heavily into debt and foreign exchange crisis. In most Western countries, despite the crises elected leaders and public servants are held accountable and exposed publicly by a proactive and investigative free media.  Unfortunately, in most Third World countries including Sri Lanka, elected political leaders and top public officials, who indulge in large scale corruption and other malpractices are seldom if ever held accountable because the free media and investigative journalists face dangers including the threat of being killed or injured as we have often seen in the past few decades. Even last week a Northern journalist was attacked. Many investigative journalists have been killed or injured in the North but little publicity has been given while little or no action has been taken against the killer or killers of the Sunday Leader’s investigative editor Lasantha Wickramatunge and the fearless investigative journalist M. Sivaram. The disappearance and possible death of veteran journalist and political cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda still a mystery that could provide good material for a book by a detective story writer.

It is in this context that the United Nations on December 9 marks the International Anti-Corruption Day. In a statement the UN says our right and our role is to say no to corruption”. This notorious vice that manifest its monstrous head mainly in the political and business fields, affects all areas of society. 

Preventing corruption unlocks progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, helps protect our planet, creates jobs, achieves gender equality and secures wider access to essential services such as healthcare and education.

According to the UN, while it is everyone’s right to benefit from strong anti-corruption efforts; misconduct and wrongdoing are stealing away valuable resources at a time when they are most needed to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

The 2021 International Anti-Corruption Day seeks to highlight the rights and responsibilities of everyone -- including States, Government officials, civil servants, law enforcement officers, media representatives, the private sector, civil society, academia, the public and youth -- in tackling corruption.

It is the right not only of countries that need to unite and face this global problem with shared responsibility but every single person -- young and old - has a role to play to prevent and counter corruption to promote resilience and integrity at all levels of society.

To achieve this, policies, systems and measures need to be in place for people to be able to speak up and say no to corruption. The UN Convention against Corruption emphasizes the responsibility of Governments to put in place effective whistle-blower protection to ensure that people who speak up are protected from retaliation. These measures contribute to effective, accountable and transparent institutions towards a culture of integrity and fairness. Unfortunately in Sri Lanka, whistle-blowers are often blown up while the wolf-whistle is commonly heard.

To protect your rights, you need to be aware of the role you play and responsibilities you have in the fight against corruption. Political and other leaders who habitually indulge in large scale corruption and find means of laundering their black billions in secret bank accounts, need to be aware of Pope Francis’ warning that the money they are robbing is being robbed from the poor and plunging those poor extreme poverty-stricken or voiceless people into a hell of a mess. Such politicians also need to be aware of the consequences of their action. The hell into which the poverty stricken people have been plunged is the hell that is waiting for the corrupt leaders.