Tag: Jack Warner
It’s not a one-night’s affair to fight corruption – Companies and civil servants in bid for something extra
Fighting corruption is not a one-night affair. – Olusegun Obasanjo
We live in a day and age where we have global companies. The great nations with giant economic systems: Even civil servant can get extra money in exchange for some easier way to handle business in the territory. We all know it happens from time to time. From land to land, town to town, village to village etc. So here we are and I got some stories to tell.
In China the only and leading party the Chinese Communist Party, they are going after the biggest fish now. The corrupted man is supposed to be Zhou Yongkang former Security Chief and Oil Czar. The party is doing this they say for “disciplinary violations”. He rises in power through the national oil company China National Petroleum Corp. President Xi Jinping is doing this after his pledge of fighting corruption in 2012 (Leavenworth, 2014).
In U.S. a former up and coming GOP candidate to the national Republican Party is set for trial for a corruption case. Bob and Maureen McDonnell they are charged for using their office to gain money and gifts in exchange for influence. Before indictment Bob repaid $120,000 and then dined any wrong doing. The prosecutors have found 615 items of luxury value (O’Dell, 2014).
Even Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation has agreed to pay up for fixing deals on offering international clients bribes to secure the agreements for law enforcing and military contracts. They agreed on 28. July to pay the sum of $ 2,000,000: this for breaking the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). S&W hired a third party agent in Pakistan to give a police department $11 000 worth of guns this resulted in selling a total of 548 guns to Pakistan worth a total of $ 210 980, that mean they earned $ 107 852. The company did also certain activity in Indonesia to a third party agent there. Also in Turkey they sent someone to sell handcuffs and firearms to the police. They also used third party agents who did activities in Bangladesh and Nepal to get contracts (Terrill, 2014).
In Trinidad Jack Warner keep humming. This time not involved in FIFA cases. The last local election and allegations of corruption, Jack Warner is now the Chairman of the independent Liberal Party. He is ordered to pay Faaiq Mohammed $ 220,000 in damages, also $ 42,000 in legal cost. Mohammed has said to the press: “It will not deter me. It probably should not have been but it has not deterred me. I will continue to work hard and work towards helping the people and serve the people. So far I am doing a pretty good job at it and I am hoping to continue, and before my term is up I will be one of the best councillors within Trinidad and Tobago” (Ramdass, 2014).
In Vellore, India in search for water and drilling water. The companies who is pumping and setting up the drilling is paying officials into pockets after recent reports. CPM district secretary A.Narayanan is saying this: “We charge between Rs 80,000 and Rs 90,000 to sink a 500-foot borewell”. The cost for a sinking borewell Rs 72 lakh for 36 borewells and its cost for each borewell price of total Rs 2 lakh. The politicians after the word of A. Narayanan: “It is obvious that Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per work would go to the corrupt officials and ward Councillors. The amount would be shared among everyone in the Corporation” (Chitharth, 2014).
In New York, a French man was arrested for two years in connection with bribing in Guinea, where the French man worked as an advisor for the mining corporation BSG Resources. He admitted to try to bribe Mamadie Toure, the widow of the late president Lasana Conte. This was in efforts to try to get contracts to large iron ore deposits BSG Resources. The company had business on the northern parts of Simadou mine. The Guinean government is now planning new auctions on the area. Even though the company BSG Resources is claiming they did nothing wrong (Ax, 2014).
Now, I have told enough stories right. It isn’t any local problem. It’s global. We’re living in a global village. Companies are worldwide and using any kind of practices to get an upper hand and earn a few extra shillings here and there. Government officials using their jobs and opportunities to earn something honor for good civic duties in the name of their position. While we’re sitting and often doesn’t grasp what that really happening and what it might do to our society as a whole. But that is enough from me today..
Links:
Ax, Joseph – ‘Frenchman gets two years in U.S. prison for role in Guinea mine scandal’ (25.07.2014) Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-frenchman-gets-two-years-in-us-prison-for-role-in-guinea-mine-scandal-2014-25#ixzz38tgdcGWG
Chitharth, M. – ‘Corporation Move Aimed at Swindling Funds’ (26.07.2014) Link: http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Corporation-Move-Aimed-at-Swindling-Funds/2014/07/26/article2349428.ece
O’Dell, Larry – ‘Jury Chosen in Former Va. Gov’s Corruption Trial’ (28.07.2014) Link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/va-governors-corruption-trial-begins-24736903
Leavenworth, Sturt – ‘China’s anti-corruption push targets highest-ranking official yet’ (29.07.2014) Link: http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/07/29/6183214/chinas-anti-corruption-push-targets.html
Ramdass, Rickie – ‘Warner must pay $262,000’ (24.07.2014) Link: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Warner-must-pay-262000-268542832.html
Terrill, Daniel – ‘Smith & Wesson pays $2 million to settle SEC corruption charges’ (29.07.2014) Link: http://www.guns.com/2014/07/29/smith-wesson-pays-2-million-to-settle-sec-corruption-charges/
Share this:
FIFA and the ‘Qatar World Cup of 2022’ reissue of power play.
Sepp Blatter, the head honcho of FIFA recently told the press, that it was a mistake to award and give the World Cup of Football to Qatar in 2022(Gibson, 2014). The saga continues to spark unwanted events.
A few days before there were reports of deaths of workers, usually foreign construction workers who work on the new stadiums in the heat of Qatar. The report from Bloomberg, said that 8 workers had lost their lives during the last 30 days. This is alarming and worrying (Boundway, 2014). If this was sad enough news E: 60 reports that 184 Nepali workers have lost their lives in the past year. In 2013 India reported that of their emigrants had the striking numbers of 450 during that year, alone (Boundway, 2014). This extremely high numbers and should be a concern for FIFA and the government of Qatar.
2 days ago new fresh reports and allegations. This is on the important matter on: “how the deal was struck” and then they got the World Cup in 2022. Not that’s this is the first time corruption into assigning and voting for the venues place has come to light. Therefore when BBC’s David Bond told: “of £3m payments to various football officials” all over the African continent for the bid (Bond, 2014). It wasn’t like snowing in the summer, more like rain in the fall. We expected it to be told and now it’s found!
With these allegation it’s was about time that the FIFA executive Issa Hayatou called them “ridiculous” and “fanciful”. The African federation answered that Hayatou never gotten gifts or trips for the vote. Another African football leader also accused and later disbanded from charge the Nigerian Amos Amadou after corruption scandals (Imray, 2014). The Qatar Organizing Committee says to this: “always upheld the highest standards of ethics and integrity in its successful bid”(…)“The right to host the tournament was won because it was the best bid and because it is time for the Middle East to host its first FIFA World Cup”(Kagel, 2014).
So with these new allegations and bad press. We can wonder how much more of this must happen before its weight is too heavy to carry for the governing body of Football. The FIFA has already enough issues with the current World Cup in Brazil. Which the own population has strike against on several occasions, even in the country where all the favelas has kids who has a fun time playing the magical game. Not so much power play of joy anymore! The momentum of the occasion might change the feeling, but for now – it’s not like it should be.. We all know what I mean!
Wonder if we will have fun seeing the game played in the heat of dessert land of Qatar. Qatar games are surely bloody red and also by everybodies reckoning it’s a bit tainted by the paying of votes. There has been issues before inside FIFA which has led to Jack Warner’s downfall from the throne of Caribbean football and leave the role of being the Trinidad and Tobago’s FIFA executive. So I wonder, what happens next in the governing body of FIFA? But I doubt much. Well since the a lot of monies is at stake! It all looks better if it stays the same! There I said it: For FIFA if it all stay the same, the money keep pumping in and the executive get their cut. Then we’re just supposed to show a blind eye and then smile while watching the matches on TV. Will you do that or would you speak your mind to?
Links:
Bond, David, BBC, (31.05.2014): Qatar World Cup: ‘£3m payments to officials’ corruption claim: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27652181
Boundway, Ira, BloombergBusinessweeek (14.05.2014): http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-14/the-2022-fifa-world-cup-could-be-deadly-for-qatars-migrant-workers
Gibson, Owen, theGuardian.co.uk (16.05.2014): http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/16/sepp-blatter-qatar-2022-world-cup-mistake
Imray, Gerald, AP-Lillooet News (02.06.2014): http://www.lillooetnews.net/sports/world/fifa-vice-president-denies-receiving-favours-for-voting-for-qatar-to-hold-2022-world-cup-1.1100860
Kagel, Jenna, Policymic.com (01.06.2014 – A New Corruption Scandal Could Put Qatar’s 2022 World Cup in Jeopardy: http://www.policymic.com/articles/90283/fifa-corruption-scandal-could-put-qatar-s-2022-world-cup-in-jeopardy
MinBane 