The word "integrity" has been used quite a lot lately when it comes to our local politics and politicians. There are several politicians under police investigation as well as high ranked civil servants with one politician in parliament recently being convicted and banned from public office. Furthermore, the spending of tax payers money for private gain or political mileage and the lack of following the correct procedures to "push through" projects are every day topics. Of course we cannot fail to mention the ongoing incidents surrounding our prosecutor's office.
It is in the best interest of the people that all actions are being scrutinized and investigated if necessary, be it by our police or an independent entity and have the outcome made public. This also means that those who are accused of wrongdoings have their name cleared publicly. Unfortunately, there is a great lack of investigations and communication towards the public about the investigations that do take place or have taken place. So, how can we demand "integrity" from those who have been involved in wrongdoings? What do we do when someone is convicted and still act as our representative?
The heart of the problem lies within the aforementioned. How can we demand something from our representatives if we are not displaying it ourselves? How many of us did except a "bribe" for our vote? How many of us called in a "favor" with one of our civil servants to get something done? What do we do when we know about a person's criminal activities? The list with questions about our "integrity" as a people goes on and on.
An on-line quote: "In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy, in that integrity regards internal consistency as a virtue, and suggests that parties holding apparently conflicting values should account for the discrepancy or alter their beliefs."
So, we should stop being hypocrites and start with installing some "integrity" within ourselves. This is so much needed for us to move forward as a community and as a country into a prosperous future. Transparency, accountability and integrity are the key words for our system to function. But this cannot work without the people for whom this system is supposed to work. We demand integrity and we demand it from all of us. #sxmmovement.
Soualiga Social Movement
