The looting, fire and destruction of shops, commercial installations and other businesses during the riots last July 6-8 have sorely tested the country’s leaders. President Jovenel Moïse and leaders of both Houses were absent for more than 24 hours, thus considered AWOL. This has led to a loss of authority at all levels of public administration. But the verbal duel triggered by mutual denunciations between Senate President Joseph Lambert and his colleague of the Southeastern department, Ricard Pierre, has led to a situation whereby the people lose confidence in their leaders.
Accused by M. Lambert for having diverted a generator that the Senate had bought for their department, Mr. Pierre lost no time to react. In turn, he revealed that his accuser enjoyed a house rented at State’s
expense for $119,000 annually. This led to new revelations exposing the lavish lifestyle of members of the Executive and of parliamentarians, the latter costing millions of dollars to the Treasury. Even before adding the regular salary of the senators and various other perks, those legislators have allocated to themselves four million gourdes each just for fiestas during the year. With 29 senators in service, that amounts to 116 million gourdes, or $17 million. In a country where the average Haitian lives on less than $2.00 a day !
As expected, the ruckus provoked by Senators Lambert and Pierre has had the effect of sealing the mouths of the authorities at all levels of government. No one is about to confess that indeed they’ve been living high off the hog. There’s no mention of the benefits and preferential treatments that the Senators have given themselves and to members of the Executive. There’s no rush to make amend, just as Senate President Lambert has done in obtaining approval from the administration to cancel the contract for his second residence. Certainly, they’re not about to give up their perks so easily.
While mentioning the plunder of public coffers by the Executive and the Senate, we shouldn’t forget the
depredations at the Lower House. In the 2017-2018 budget, dubbed “criminal,” the 117 members of that body cost the State 3.63 billion gourdes, or $54 million.
Opacity being the rule, added to the secretive nature of the Haitian administration, only an accident of
the Lambert-Pierre kind would have shed light on the mystery surrounding the salaries and the fabulous privileges enjoyed by the Senators and other members of Parliament. Certainly, we can’t expect those in power, all categories combined, to willingly accept their voracity. They must be cornered and dealt with accordingly.
With such people in power, their primary objective is to enrich themselves on the backs of the Haitian
people. Thus, the nation won’t easily know who really earns how much among members of the Executive, from the Head of State, the Ministers and Secretaries of State to the Gene- ral Directors. In the course of the latest brouhaha among the Senators, the information came out and we found that some Ministers enjoy privileges almost similar to those of the parliamentarians. It‘s definitely legitimate
that we demand complete disclosure regarding the salaries, direct and indirect, granted to the men and
women who are supposed to serve the country.
From what has been learned from the latest revelations, it seems that the practice of “advantages” and “preferred treatments“ extends to others. To a greater or lesser degree, all the personnel in the public administration also get some benefits. In addition to their salaries, some senior government officials covertly get some extras, all absorbed in the national budget. No wonder that Parliament and the Presidency fought tooth and nail not to fully divulge all the components of the “criminal budget” of the past two fiscal years. Now we know what those “other headings” in the budget mean. Meanwhile, a pittance was allotted for the health of 11 million citizens while the lion’s share of the budget was reserved for the Presidency and Parliament.
Relentlessly those in power have undertaken to strip the country of its resources for the benefit of a few. The list of privileges granted to the “favorites” in public administration covers even strictly private matters. If the clothing and toiletries of those persons are not mentioned among the privileges, it doesn‘t necessarily mean they are not charged to the State. By the way, at the National Palace and at other government institutions, particularly in the capital, lunch is paid for some from State coffers, to the benefit of restaurant owners close to the authorities.
The worst is that all actors insist on keeping such excesses secret. Without a doubt, they know that they
don’t deserve those privileges. After all, it’s a form of embezzlement of public funds within the culture of
corruption. They do their best to keep the people in the dark about their shenanigans. For if their sordid
actions were to be known that would spark a public outcry, even revolt.
Clearly, the Haitian public administration, in general, and the “Bald-Headed” government, in particular, has given itself all the means necessary to steal public funds. They circumvent the laws and the Constitution of the land, while working to keep their activities secret. In finding how they’ve been victimized, the citizens are taking precautionary measures to stop the scalding. In the process, the Haitian people literally have lost confidence in their leaders. They distrust their decisions, statements
and assertions. Caught redhanded in fraud and robbery, those leaders have forfeited their legitimacy.
Therefore, it’s up to the Haitian people to determine their fate.
you can found this article from the august 01 2018 edition weekly Haiti-Observateur, P. 11 at : http://haiti-observateur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/H-O-01-Aout-2018.pdf
