A tot is a measure of spirits, especially rum. Not every type of alcohol is served with a tot. There is that specific type which is served with a tot. That type of alcohol served with a tot is more ethanolic in comparison to the rest.
When alcoholics gather around a table to take alcohol, there is an extra small cup, smaller than what Arabs call “kubai reksi”, a cup of tea. That is a cup for serving a tot of wine. I heard from a closest friend that there are some tots which require an alcoholic to either lick salt first or dilute it with soda before drinking it.
But generally, a tot is sipped by one alcoholic, gives it to another one to sip and the sipping goes on in circle. That is exactly how the Ministry of Finance has become. It has become a very bitter tot to take. It kills some junior alcoholics too early. Imagine taking over the ministry and in the second month, the news of drunkenness goes all over the country.
To me, the other months a minister spends in the office are the months that the appointing authority takes to look for a suitable substitute. A long-serving Minister of Finance is that who spends two years. So, if long-serving ministers, for instance, Hon. Michael Makuei or Hon. Awut Deng, are asked now like, how many Ministers of Finance have attended the Council of Ministers’ meetings with you since 2013? How many would they mention?
Why are the Ministers of Finance relieved more frequently than the rest of the ministers? Or let me put it this way, why are the ministers of economy-boosting ministries and heads of economy-boosting institutions such as NRA, Nilepet and Customs Service, relieved more frequently than the rest? It is because they are the ones responsible for the elevation of the economy and when they fail to do it, it an absolute right of the president to appoint others to replace them.
When the ones appointed to replace them also fail, the new ones are appointed and the appointment continues. It becomes a tot of wine. I sip it, he sips it, she sips it and the sipping goes on and on and on. But one thing about the case is, there is always a charge or charges amounting to a relieve of a minister.
Once charged, the minister should not only be relieved but also apprehended, put in prison and taken to justice for trials. This will fix a bell in the mind of a new minister trusted to replace the relieved one. This bell will always ring when a new minister goes astray. But now, such a thing does not happen. A relieved minister walks away majestically whether charged or uncharged.
What happens? The newly appointed minister tells himself (there is no herself yet) that the time is too short, and then, he steals what his teeth cannot chew. For the few months in office, the attempts to steal money exceeded the attempts to improve what he was appointed to improve. He is doing this because he knows he will be relieved shortly.
Some relieved ministers, in their hearts, say, though relieved, I have taken what will sustain me for more than 10 years. What sustains a minister and his extended family for 10 years may be a 1-year salary of the civil servants. The new minister comes and pays a 2-month salary just to attract the revenues and pave the road for theft.
Once the money lands in the account, it is stolen fresh and the remainder paid to those whose words reach the palace. This way, the president can try anyone and nothing gets improved. There are only two solutions to this chronic problem. 1. To make the relieved minister accountable for any proven charges and 2. God’s intervention.
Thanks for “Sowing The Seed Of Truth”.