A long time ago when I was Finance Minister, a highly qualified CEO of one Ministry asked me for support of her request to Cabinet to approve her attendance at a workshop on Good Governance Principles.
The workshop was to be held in Manila and it costs the Government $10,000 to attend it.
“This is a very new approach in Management” she told me with excitement.
“Lady those principles are not new. The principles are all there in our Laws since Independence. Those governance principles incidentally were also understood and followed for the last 3000 years by our chiefs and orators when they met formally in their Fono ale Nuu. I will explain.”
The only thing new is the usage of an all-encompassing Term-“Governance”, to cover all aspects of good behavior in practice.
The legal requirements in our Laws are to ensure that everything that we do in Government must be transparent, accountable and morally correct.
The whole objective of Good Governance in Government or in any organization, is to keep everyone honest.
For example, if one has a vested interest in a matter, in which an important decision is to be made, let others do it, to avoid an allegation of conflict of interest.
If a major project is to be launched, tender it out, so that every qualified technician has an opportunity to compete and the winner is likely to be the best qualified and cheapest for the organization.
Direct appointments without a good cause often leads to corrupt practices.
And if top jobs are to be filled by way of public advertisement and a selection panel of independent experienced and trustworthy panelists is selected to conduct the interviews, only the best clean reputable and blemish free candidate is more likely to be selected, provided the final appointing authority accepts the panel’s recommendations.
And this has not been the case in recent Government appointments.
It is why annual reports of Ministries must be prepared and submitted to Parliament within the prescribed time to ensure their accountability for works done.
The same is done at the village level on regular follow-up inspections to closely monitor the implementation of community projects in agriculture for food security.
And finally, the Rule of Law should be observed strictly by those who enact the laws of a country.
Above all, there must be political courage and leadership to observe these governance principles strictly for the benefits to be shared by all its citizens especially when a ruling Party bears the name of the Almighty God and every action and words must therefore, reflect the religious values we uphold.
A Development Partner who does not observe the practices of Governance Principles in an aid recipient Country is seen as an accomplice to these corrupt practices.
Samoa is a small country where no Secrets remain Secret for long.
Everyone is related, where a brother is in FAST and three sisters’ are in the HRPP, and they talk to each other all the time
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi : Leader of HRPP