Blinders » Secret Societies

The Disciplinary Coaches in Frugal Relation

admin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:50:11 +0000

Discrete spiritual societies weigh over the frugality of its temper or else scriptural discipline. In short, frugal forms a pattern that attracts retainers, clientele, or an audience by miscellany traditions and beliefs that fit the frugality profile.

Repeatedly those who practice frugal relations will restrain worldly desires to exploit comfort for buying economical services and goods carefully. The purpose is to make their purchases of goods closing. It seems to fulfill the frugality ritual.

Exploiting the cash economical utilidor the frugal follower emphasizes their spending while focusing on the economy. The pocket money is employed to meet secret long-term goals, communal needs and family.

These thrifty souls, goal to save energy, money and the meanness while few of the chief schemes of frugal rivet toward waste decrement, whilst focusing on the changes and common cost matching funds or ethnics. The goal of achieving self-fulfillment based on humane beliefs directly right through means of self-restraining capital at the time striving toward efficiency sets the mark of unique survivors.

Rather than filling their own greed, they focus on fellowship of the human race. Instead of buying materials for having it, they will buy goods or services they need rather than want.

A frugal saves money, time and energy. Not only is these commodities saved for their own need, rather for the need of humankind. Instead of dwelling on fabricated rituals of religion and worldly needs, these people focus on the need of the next man.

A frugal stays informed, especially staying updated with district situations, including products, telephone service and market changes. This is because they use this information to find ways to save money.

Some people call the frugal a stingy person or penny-pincher but the fact is these people are self-reliant, self-sufficient and extremely considerate of other people in the world.

Since our world has caused a major decline in humanity traits, as well being that of desensitized souls, the frugal is someone you want to follow, since compassion is far removed from their souls.

A frugal is a self-sufficient person that prefers to bide the simple life. Often forthwith-family associates concepts of their frugality to that of the philosophic. Some people believe this is because these people lack trust. Their acts are far over the heads of many spectators that fail to see a frugal is someone attempting to bring humanity back to its original state.

The frugal people often gain professional knowledge that guides them to understand the profitable cultures in the concentrated world. Frugality followers and coaches are proposed to claim to have an understanding of the economic changes, spiritual interests and materials, thus understanding this structure better than anyone does. This is according to spectators failing to see the full light of a frugal.

Martin Lukac
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/the-disciplinary-coaches-in-frugal-relation-125751.html

It's A Secret…

admin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:37:39 +0000

It is Charlie's birthday, and Lola knows what his birthday surprise is. Will she be able to stop herself blurting it out and spoiling it?

Duration : 12 min

Creating the Counsellor Mindset: a Career Overview

admin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:58:12 +0000

Diverse values, specialist development, varied experiences, a unique mindset – mix it up and include a touch of interpretation and you have a human being with a social outlook. Leveraging differences between people is a daily necessity of living in societies, and leveraging our own perspective of the world – and others in it – is one of the utmost challenges in pursuing a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

So how do we detach from our past experiences and values to see the world from a clearer perspective? The answer is simple: we don’t. What we need to do is critically analyse our own process of thinking, and pursue reason and appropriateness in our actions. Whilst willingness to help is a premise for counselling, willingness to adjust is a professional requirement – and the following overlapping stages discuss the process of becoming an effective counsellor, facing its challenges, surviving the experience, and learning from it.

Stage One: The Fundamentals of Professional Care

There is a strong ethical component in any health-related profession, particularly ones which deal directly with consumers – in the case of counselling, the client. One of the most prominent aspects of becoming a professional counsellor lies in understanding the ethical guidelines of the profession, which in turn requires counsellors and prospective counsellors to be able to differentiate between ‘friendly advice’ and professional assistance. This is a challenging proficiency as it not only involves the process of learning which is intrinsic to any professional development (or training), but also remodelling the manner in which people naturally respond to a call for help: emotional and inevitably subjective feedback.

In order to cater for those needs, counsellor training involves a great deal of ethical background theory and practice which aims to develop the objective ‘eye’ – a demanded skill for counselling sessions. Such a methodical approach to interpreting human behaviour and individual needs is rooted in the development of early behavioural sciences.

Method in Counselling

What is ‘method’? Method (from Greek methodos or met hodos meaning “way across”) is a word which entered English in 1541 via French and Latin, and is defined as “a series of steps taken to complete a certain task or to reach a certain objective”. The methodical approach was induced by the need to share common guidelines in the observation and analysis of events, laying grounds for the advent of the scientific method – the central component of any modern science.

In the 19th century, the scientific method served to ‘unleash’ psychology from its bonds with philosophy and medicine – and the consequence was the advent of the original behavioural science. Counselling moved away from psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis in the early 1950s with the intent of enhancing the relationship between counsellor and client. The helping nature of the counselling approach set the standards for this newly adopted discipline – and increased focus was placed in nurturing the relationship with the client, encouraging client’s responsiveness, and developing a bond which would lay grounds for the client’s progressive development.

Stage Two: Becoming an Effective Counsellor

According to Meier and Davis (1997, p.61) “in no other profession does the personality and behavior of the professional make such difference as it does in counseling. Beginning counselors need to work at increasing their self awareness as well as their knowledge of counseling procedures. Your willingness to be open to supervision, to accept clients’ failures and criticisms, to participate in counseling yourself when appropriate, and to acknowledge your limits will contribute to your eventual success and satisfaction”.

Acknowledging Values

The client-counsellor relationship is fundamentally a relationship between two human beings. Obviously there are two different roles in the relationship but both counsellor and client have a history of experiences that have shaped who they are, how they view the world and what their values are.

An effective client-counsellor relationship does not ignore the “human” side of the profession. To establish trust, clients need to sense that the counsellors are genuine and sincere in their communications. But when they begin to suspect their own biases, conflicting values or judgements are influencing their work with a client, it is critical that they reflect upon this behaviour and seek to rectify it.

Critically reflecting in supervision, through journaling or personal inner work is required to establish an appropriate plan of action.

Recognising Limitations

It is easy for inexperienced counsellors to fall into the trap of feeling solely responsible for their client’s progress. Counsellors do not possess a magic wand to solve all of life’s problems and it is important to remember that ultimately it is the client that makes choices in their own life.

Counsellors can assist clients to think through options, explore motivators and hurdles, set goals, formulate plans of action and so on. A client, however, must assume the responsibility for taking actions in order to accomplish progress in their life.

There are many aspects of the counselling relationship in which it is important to recognise the limitations of counselling. When progress seems “stuck”, some of the best plans involve tolerating ambiguity, sharing responsibility with the client, re-establishing the role of the counsellor and/or sharing information with a supervisor.

Drawing the Line

Maintaining a critical perspective towards the counsellor-client relationship is essential in order to avoid emotional burnout, misjudgement and unproductive distribution of power. “A common mistake for beginners is to worry too much about clients. There is a danger of incorporating clients’ neuroses into our own personality. We lose sleep wondering what decisions they are making. We sometimes identify so closely with clients that we lose our own sense of identity and assume their identity. Empathy becomes distorted and militates against a therapeutic intervention” (Corey 2001, p. 34).

Stage Three: Dealing with Challenging Situations

One of the foremost challenges facing counselling professionals is to understand the complex role that diversity plays in their work. In counselling, each client’s needs and objectives should be considered and used to guide the counselling process. These needs vary for each individual according to factors such as personality, culture, gender and age.

Counselling with Difference

It is vital that counsellors working with issues of difference recognise the unique needs of their client and plan intervention accordingly. The counsellor must decide on the approach that will provide better responsiveness from the client, and therefore lead to a constructive outcome.

Clients affected by systems of inequity in our culture are frequently subjected to acts of discrimination and prejudice. Counsellors need to understand the impact of such in order to analyse the depth to which a client may be culturally traumatised. Prejudice impacts on self-esteem and may evoke imbalances in a client’s wellbeing. They may experience feelings of being left out of the larger group, feelings of powerlessness, loneliness and hopelessness.

Working with Groups

Group counselling is a challenging and dynamic form of counselling that requires all-round professional skills from counsellors. It implies that any challenges a counsellor may find in helping an individual can potentially duplicate, triplicate, or vastly multiply – however, the more intricate the challenge is, the higher the rewards.

Similar to mathematics theory, the dynamic interactions which occur within a group, along with the external influencing factors upon that group, pose challenges to controlling and interpreting group outcomes. When dealing with groups, the primary objective (whether a group is formed to develop a project or a group united by the need to tackle an analogous problem) is to ensure that the group is healthy and productive. As such, core communication skills which are based on interpersonal communication theory are applicable for groups – promoting good communication between group individuals creates a safe and productive environment for the group to work.

When dealing with groups, there are several major issues that should be noted by professional counsellors, such as:

1. Understanding power relationships – in other words – how the interaction between counsellor and the group’s individuals impact interpersonal relationships;

2. Consciously avoiding generalisations and stereotypes;

3. Accepting that all people are multi-dimensional;

4. Making judgements exclusively on situationally relevant criteria;

5. Adopting communication patterns which minimise stereotyping and increase dignity and respect to induce more appropriate decisions (based on information relevant to the particular context) and;

6. Consciously controlling group communication which is likely to aggravate negative perceptions by others.

The Unfaithful Mind

Counsellors are also faced with situations in which their own personal perspective creates a challenge in their relationships with clients. A client’s personality, behaviour or opinion may diverge from the counsellor in such a radical way that it becomes a motive for dislike or disassociation. It is a complex situation which requires the counsellor to reflect on their own capabilities of dealing with such situation.

The risk of developing hatred against ‘opposing’ groups of society can perpetuate negative behaviour – a kind of traumatic response to what has been perceived as a threat. Recognising value in the individual is part of the process of developing the client’s self-confidence through providing a supportive environment during counselling sessions.

What is the solution? Primarily, the counsellor will need to reflect on whether he/she is able to restrain his/her own negative feelings towards the client and work together in a productive manner. If he/she decides that it is feasible, strategies need to be devised in order to avoid conflict and lack of alignment in the relationship goals. If the counsellor believes that it is not appropriate to deal with the client due to personal motives, there should be a contingency plan to refer that client to appropriate support and ensure that this process is done efficiently – without incurring in any psychological harm to the client.

Stage Four: Learning and Perpetuating

Dealing with human behaviour is never a static process. Learning from each experience is the secret to naturally widen one’s perspective towards the world, improve one’s ability to understand people and to effectively communicate with them. Therefore, learning also plays a big role in the process of developing a positive counsellor perspective. How to improve learning? The best way is to construct a disciplined approach is be attentive to details and situations which produce unexpected results in counselling sessions and other interaction with clients. Learning through observation is of considerable value in terms of experience and maturity for a counsellor.

Perpetuating constitutes the maintenance of the basic backbone that allows a counsellor to be a productive and efficient professional: mental and physical health. Counsellors are deemed to deal with stress throughout their careers – whether through emotional attachment, excessive work, lack of self-care, or a combination of these factors. It is of vital importance that counsellors avoid burnout because emotional stress tends to accumulate overtime and it can result in trauma. All these issues directly affect the counsellor’s ability to oblige to ethical and professional guidelines.

Most people ignore the first signs of excessive stress, and by doing so, become vulnerable to further pressure from work. At some point, counsellors may find it very difficult to attend counselling sessions, to get to work, and to perform in several other areas of life. Preventing burnout is simply a necessary task to anyone aiming for a balanced and fulfilling career (and life).

References:

Scientific Method Wikipedia. Retrieved on: 14/08/2006 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method.

Meier, S., & Davis, S. (1997). The Elements of Counselling. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.

Corey, G. (Ed). (2001). Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Wadsworth: Thomson Learning.

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Pedro Gondim
http://www.articlesbase.com/psychology-articles/creating-the-counsellor-mindset-a-career-overview-139863.html

Rise of Nationalism in Europe- a Short Overview

admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:21:43 +0000

Nationalism-Intro

The term Nationalism is closely associated with the root word Nation. Since times immemorial, Nation has been described in various ways but still holding on to a common core. One such instance is the lecture delivered by a French philosopher, Ernst Renan (1823-1892) at the University of Sorbonne, where he explained a Nation as the culmination of long past of endeavours, sacrifice and devotion. A nation is truly expressed by its inhabitants. According to him, nations are the harbingers of liberty where every citizen enjoys the freedom of speech, equality and also redress the rights provided. A nation carefully directs the humanity towards a healthy progression.

The French revolution and the idea of a nation

The abstract notion of nationalism finally found its precision in the French revolution that erupted in 1789. The French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices that could create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people.

The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution. A centralized administrative system was put in place which abolished internal custom duties and introduced a uniform system of weights and measures. It also encouraged French as common language of the nation.

When the news of these events reached the different corners of Europe, students and other members of educated middle class began setting up Jacobin clubs. Within no time, the conflagration spread abroad.

But soon afterwards, with the rise of Napoleon, monarchy suffered severe damages which completely destroyed democracy in France. Easing the already flared fray, the Civil Code of 1804- usually known as the Napoleon Code- did away with all the privileges based on birth, established equality before law and secured the right to property. Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues. Transport and communication systems were improved. Business and small-scale producers of goods, in particular, began to realize that uniform laws, standardized weights and measures, and a common rational currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another.

Unfortunately, the highly anticipating ray of hope turned gray as the new administrative arrangement failed to go hand in hand with political freedom. Increased taxation, censorship, forced conscription into the French armies required to conquer the rest of Europe, all seemed to outweigh the advantages of the administrative changes.

The making of nationalism in Europe

In the very beginning, there were no particular nation-states and eastern and Central Europe was under autocratic monarchies within the territories of which lived diverse people. They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identity or a common culture. For example the Habsburg Empire that ruled over Austria-Hungary consisted if people belonging to different ethnic groups. It included the Alpine regions- the Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland as well as Bohemia, where the aristocracy was predominantly German-speaking.

Amidst these unfavourable conditions, ambiguity arises about the emergence of nationalism and how it gradually came into being.

The advent of nationalism can be marked by a dominant yet small class. Aristocracy stood tall in both the fields of society and politics. The raw notion of nationalism was finally acquired from this new phenomenon which cut across regional divisions. They spoke French for the purpose of diplomacy and in high society.

In the face of growing industrialization, a yet another class of working population came into being. This class was educated, broadminded and supported ideas of national unity leading to the downfall of aristocratic class.

With this, a new definition of Nationalism crept up, which politically emphasized the concept of government by consent. This liberal Nationalism stood for freedom for the individual and quality of all before the law.

Yet, equality before the law did not necessarily stand for universal suffrage I e. the right to vote. These rights were exclusively reserved for the property-owning men. Even women were refrained from these political rights. This further relegated the status of women to minority and widened the gap between the affluent and downtrodden.

As time passed by, it was realized that a society bounded by way too many restrictions hampered a rapid progress. This idea consolidated even more in the instance of economic backdrop. One such example is of the Napoleon’s administrative measures which had created out of countless small principalities, a confederation of 39 states. Each of these possessed its own currency, and weights and measures. A merchant travelling in 1833 from Hamburg to Nuremberg to sell his goods would have had to pass through customs barriers and pay a customs duty of about 5 percent at each one of them. Adding to the woes, even the units of measurements differed and thus making trade, a cumbersome and time consuming affair. Such obstacles to economic exchange and growth by the new commercial classes, who argued for the creation of a unified economic territory allowing unhindered movement of goods, people and capital. Hence, a wave of economic nationalism strengthened the wider nationalist sentiments growing at the time.

A new conservatism after 1815

In 1815, representatives of the European powers- Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria- who had collectively defeated Napoleon, met at Vienna to draw up a settlement for Europe. The delegates drew up the Treaty of Vienna of 1815 which undid the changes brought about in by Napoleon. Thus, the whole of Europe was dipped back into the sea of autocracies.

The Revolutionaries

But this autocracy could not survive for long, as secret societies began to spring up in many European states to train revolutionaries and spread their ideas. The revolutionaries with the agenda of equality and freedom saw nationalism as the suitable light-bearer.

One such individual was the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini. Born in Genoa in 1807, he became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari. At the tender age of 24, he was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He subsequently founded two more underground societies, first, Young Italy in Marseilles, and then, Young Europe in Berne, whose members were like-minded young men from Poland, France, Italy and the German States.

AGE OF REVOLUTIONS: 1830-1848

Even though revolutionary activities had started surfacing gradually during the conservatism era itself, the real note-worthy upheaval against it occurred in France in July 1830. The Bourbon kings, who had been restored to power during the conservative reaction after 1815, were now overthrown by liberal revolutionaries who installed a constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe at its head. “When France sneezes,’ Metternich once remarked,’ the rest of Europe catches cold.’

An event that mobilized nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe was the Greek war of independence.

Romanticism and nationalism

Nationalism found it significance not just in the sentiments of war and territorial expansion but also in art and culture. According to a well known German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803), the true German culture was to be discovered in the common people through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances that projected the true spirit of a nation.

Language also played a very important role in developing nationalist feelings. After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools and the Russian language was imposed everywhere. Shaken by this disaster, the Polish people began to use language as a weapon of national resistance. Polish was used for Church gatherings and all religious instruction. Thus language generated oneness among the people.

REAL REVOLTS OF THE COMMON MASSES

The whole of the Europe witnessed one of its great revolts in the hands of weavers of Silesia who led an opposition against contractors who supplied them raw material and gave them orders for finished textiles but drastically reduced their payments.

This was followed by the unprecedented epidemic that drove thousands of people on the road without food and unemployment.

Resurgence of another form of Nationalism:

The revolutions in 1848 had led to the abdication of the monarch and pushed their demands for the creation of a nation-state on parliamentary principles- a constitution, freedom of the press and freedom of association.

Unluckily, this too turned out to be a failure with dominance by the middle classes who resisted the demands of workers and artisans and consequently lost their support. At last, troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.

In the course of these events, women were badly neglected. Even in the revolution promised freedom, women were still deprived of their basic right to vote. When the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul, women were admitted only as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.

THE MAKING OF GERMANY AND ITALY

Germany- Can the Army be the Architect of a Nation?

Nationalism which once ignited and led towards the direction of liberty and equality through the unification of different regions into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament was crushed badly after 1848. The monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia, under then shrewd Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck, were able to bring down Austria, Denmark and France and complete the process of unification.

Italy unified

For long, Italy too was untouched from the wave of nationalism gathering about. But, eventually, during the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini took the initiative by forming a secret society called Young Italy for the dissemination of his goals.

The failures of the uprisings of 1831 and 1848, mounted the hopes of Nationalism on the shoulders of Sardinia-Piedmont under its ruler King Victor Emmanuel II. Chief Minister Cavour tactfully forged an alliance with France and thus, succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859. In 1860, theymarched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and succeeded in winning the support of the local peasants in order to drive out the Spanish rulers.

VISUALISING THE NATION

Nation is a single word for representing a humungous group of people who by one or other facts are bound together. Nation was conferred an order of high respect and was thus portrayed as female figures. She was regarded as the nurturer of her children that is the people. Apart from this, nationalism driven sentiments of liberty, justice.etc also acquired female personification as allegories.

THE FINAL RISE

After facing numerous ups and downs, nationalist tension finally resurrected in the area called the Balkans. Balkans successfully overthrew the Ottoman Empire which had ruled it for a very long period.

But soon after it, the now independent Balkan states yearned for more land and started fighting amongst themselves. These resulted in a series of war and finally the First World War.

CONCLUSION

Thus, we conclude that wherein Nationalism inspired and motivated thousands of states, at the same time, nationalism turned self-interest and lust of power led to severe fall of mankind.

Integra Wingates Hellsing
http://www.articlesbase.com/k-12-education-articles/rise-of-nationalism-in-europe-a-short-overview-748824.html

Secret Societies – Obscure Organizations With a Special Purpose

admin — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:14:10 +0000

http://www.yallways.com

Throughout history, people with similar ideas and interests have come together for specific purposes. However, sometimes their aims must be kept hidden from others. Thus, the group becomes a “secret society.” Secret societies have existed for thousands of years, and many are still around today. They are usually fraternal organizations. This means their members adopt artificial family ties upon initiation. It does not imply all secret societies are exclusive to males. In fact, there are several notable organizations which initiate female members, and even a few all-female societies.

Secret societies have often been treated with suspicion. This dates as far back as the ancient Greeks, who referred to these groups as those that met sub rosa or “under the rose.” To the Greeks, the rose was a symbol of silence, and meetings held beneath a hung rose were sworn to secrecy. Since then, such societies have been founded in virtually every culture. Many secret societies revolved around religious or military orders. Most notable, perhaps, are the societies of knights from medieval Europe. Among these, the Templars have developed a particularly important historical reputation that includes several accounts relating the knights to conspiracy theories. Although knights were not secretive about their affiliations, the procedures, practices, and beliefs of these orders were generally kept under cover and maintained a level of mystery.

The ultimate goal of most secret societies is to protect some sort of special, or even sacred, knowledge. Thus, membership into a secret society is generally restricted and requires a special initiation. In some cases, members cannot even admit their association with a secret society. In addition to initiation rites, secret societies often participate in other special rituals. Many practices are reported to be painful and dangerous to members. However, these claims are likely exaggerated to some extent.

Some secret societies have developed a well-known reputation. For example, the Skull and Bones society at Yale University has had many prominent members, including several U.S. presidents. Perhaps the most famous secret society in America is the Free Masons. Many of the founders of the United States, including George Washington and James Monroe, were members of this society. Additionally, at least fifteen American presidents were a part of the Free Masons. The Free Masons are said to have permeated every level of American society. There are even supposed Free Mason symbols on U.S. currency; specifically, the pyramid and the all-seeing eye.

Since, some secret societies have exercised significant power both financially and politically. Thus, they may be perceived as a threat by an established government. For example, most secret societies are banned in Poland. Additionally, some groups have been proven a danger to society. In the United States, the Ku Klux Klan is notorious for being a secret society whose public acts of prejudice and violence made them little more than a band of racist criminals. However, the power they exercised prevented many members from ever receiving legal prosecution.

Secret societies continue to impact our world politically, financially, and religiously. They are the target of numerous theories on conspiracies and paranormal events. Thus, they frequently appear in both fiction and non-fiction media. In fact, several societies have claimed fame through references in popular culture. However, there are still those societies whose actions are not far-reaching and whose members simply seek social interaction. Either way, it seems secret societies are an inherent part of human society destined to continue their existence.

John W. Martin
http://www.articlesbase.com/causes-and-organizations-articles/secret-societies-obscure-organizations-with-a-special-purpose-698590.html

Adolf Hitler 10:Afterlife: I worked with Illuminati

admin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:36:01 +0000

http://www.desteni-universe.co.za

Duration : 8 min 46 sec

Corruption in Africa: a Cancer That Won’t Go Away

admin — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:50:56 +0000

‘Corruption is one of the most formidable challenges to good governance, development and poverty reduction’ in Africa says 2008 Transparency International Report.

It has been said that corruption in Africa is like an advanced cancer or tumour that cannot be treated. Like cancer, corruption has tragically devastated African societies and made millions of people very poor. From South Africa to Egypt the tentacles of corruption reaches every where. Corruption has no boundaries. From the offices of presidents and prime ministers to the smallest administration unit of government corruption is everywhere. According to the Africa Union (AU) around $148 billion are stolen from the continent by its leaders and civil servants every year. The recent Forbes’ list of most corrupt nations had 9 out of the first 16 countries coming from Africa.

In Africa, very few government officials and civil servants perform services for free. You cannot get your birth certificate or passport unless you grease the palm of officials. You cannot get good education for your kid unless you pay a bribe. You cannot obtain electricity meter for your house unless you pay a bribe. You cannot get your goods out from the harbour unless you pay kickback. Anything involving signing of documents involves paying inducements. In Africa you can hardly find someone who has not paid bribe before either willingly or unwillingly. To receive attention when you are sick you need to grease the palm of hospital officials.

In Ghana, officials illegally charge 15 and 150 Ghana cedis for a birth certificate and a passport respectively. Again in Ghana Police officers openly ask bus and taxi drivers to pay bribe before they are allowed to cross mounted road blocks. Customs officials adopt all manner of tactics in order to collect money from importers and exporters before their goods are allowed to leave the ports.

Most projects in Africa are carried out by corrupt contractors who collude and connive with public officials to inflate project cost in order to enrich themselves. As a result every project carried out cost three times the usual cost and it is always the tax payers who bear the brunt of it. Due to corruption, project inspectors fail to do their job and allow substandard work to be done at the expense of the people and the nation.

In Africa, it is totally useless to bid for contracts because contracts are awarded to the contractors who are able to pay the biggest bribe. In most countries there are no announcements for tenders rather contracts are awarded to companies who secretly pay large sums of commission to government officials.

For example on 17th September 2002 a Canadian Engineering company called Acres International was convicted by a High Court in Lesotho for paying $260,000 bribe to secure an $8 billion dam contract in the tiny Southern African nation of Lesotho.

Achair Partners a Swiss company and Progresso an Italian company have been accused of bribing Somali Transition Government officials in order to secure contracts to deposit highly toxic industrial waste in the waters of Somalia.

In 2002 Halliburton a US company was accused of establishing $180m flush fund with the intent of using it to bribe Nigeria officials in order to secure a $10 billion Liquefied Gas Plant contract in the Nigeria. In response to the accusation the company fired Mr. Albert Jack Stanley. Mr. Stanley a former executive of Halliburton (KBR) has pleaded guilty for orchestrating the $180m flush fund. Even though Halliburton denied any knowledge of such a fund a report by the company later named a British called Jeffrey Tesler as the middleman behind the bribery. Such corrupt practices by western companies seeking contracts in Africa are not uncommon.

In Africa contracts are awarded to party faithfuls who in turn make handsome financial contributions to the party in power. Because of corruption and nepotism anyone can become a contractor in Africa. In Africa, state coffers or the treasury are the personal property of the president/prime minister, his family, his cronies and his political party. In most African countries there is no separation or difference between state and ruling party resources.

Corruption is so endemic in African societies that, political parties have been pledging to combat it with deadly force but when they are elected nothing seem to change. When former president of Ghana John Kuffour took office he said ‘there will be zero tolerance for corruption’ in his government but his party recently lost power amid accusation that he was unable to tame his corrupt officials.

Despite years of exports of oil, gold, diamond, bauxite, tin, coltan, uranium, manganese timber and several other valuable minerals the continent continue to be ranked as the poorest on earth because most of the revenue from these exports do not get to the people but find its way into the bank accounts of corrupt government officials, civil servants and their allies.

Since oil was first discovered in Nigeria about 50 years ago, over $400 billion have been realised from its sale but today the whole population continue to live in abject poverty and the country has nothing to show or account for the billions of dollars she has received for years. Those who have benefited from the oil are corrupt politicians, civil servants, a shadow economy, armed bandits, army generals and the big oil corporations such as Shell, Mobil, BP and their American counterparts. As a result able men and women are battling dangerous seas just to enter Europe and try their luck. Others have resulted to 419 a popular scam used to trick people into given out their money and valuables. In fact Nigeria has consistently featured in the top 1% of the most corrupt nation on the planet.

Between 2005 and 2007 several state governors and their immediate families were arrested by Scotlandyard in London on corruption and money laundering charges.

Among them are James Ibori of oil rich Delta State and his wife Theresa who had their $35m asset frozen by the English court. Mr. Ibori earns about a thousand dollars a month but during his eight years as a state governor he managed to acquire wealth to the tune of $35m and was a key financial contributor to the campaign of the current president of Nigeria. He owns a private jet and a lavish London home.

Another corrupt governor is Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of oil-rich state of Bayelsa who was also arrested in London for money laundering charges. Mr. Alamieyeseigha broke his bail conditions and evaded capture in Britain by dressing up as a woman. When Police conducted a search in his London home they discovered one million pounds worth of cash in his home.

Another governor who was arrested in England was Joshua Dariye of Plateau State. He was arrested in a London hotel for stealing money meant for development of his state.

But these thieves have no rank compared to the heavyweights like Abacha, Mobutu, Eyadema, Lansana Conte, Obiang Nguema, Omar Bongo, Mubarak and Arap Moi.

In the 1990s economic hardship, abject poverty and destruction of the environment forced the people of Ogoniland in Nigeria to demand a say in which Shell operates but the military regime led by Gen. Sani Abacha arrested the environmentalists led by Ken Sorowiwa and executed them. You may wonder why Abacha killed his country men instead of protecting and providing for their needs. According to available data Nigeria government Lawyers within the period that Abacha became Head of State i.e. between 1993 and 1998 he stole $4 billion of Nigeria’s oil money and stashed it in several secret bank accounts in Switzerland, Britain, Luxemburg, Jersey Island and Liechtenstein. In April, 2002 these countries agreed to return $1 billion of the stolen money to the people of Nigeria. So far about $2 billion have been returned to the government of Nigeria and the rest of the money is still sitting in bank accounts in Western countries notably Switzerland and Britain.

A visit to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria shows that majority of the people especially the youth are unemployed. Years of oil spills have made the soil unfit for any agricultural activity. Their streams and wells are polluted and the people have no access to basic necessities of life because their leaders have enriched themselves with the money.

Every effort to get the Nigeria government to develop the oil rich areas fell on death ears until the unemployed youth took up arms against the federal government and oil companies. They kidnapped foreign oil workers and demanded ransom before their victims were released. They disrupted the oil production forcing the oil companies to move several miles offshore for their own safety but they were not safe either. Eventually, the companies had to reduce their output by 25% in 2007-8. These disruptions affected supply of oil in the world market forcing the price to skyrocket to $140 a barrel in the summer of 2008.

If Abacha could steal $4 billion within 5 years then you can tell how much the leaders who have ruled for decades have stolen. For example Gaddafi of Libya has been in power for 39 years now. Omar Bongo of Gabon 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt 27 years, Paul Biya of Cameroon 26 years, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda 22 years, Omar Al Bashir of Sudan 19 years, Iddriss Derby of Chad 17 years, Yahya Jammeh of Gambia 14 years.

I think you have now got the picture and understand why the African Union says $148 billion leave the continent every year.

The late Lansana Conte ruled Guinea for 24 years from 1984 to 2008. Sometimes having a leader maintaining stability in a country could translate into economic prosperity but this is not the case for Guinea. Even though Guinea is the world’s biggest exporter of bauxite, there is little very the country can show for it. Apart from bauxite, Guinea also have large deposits of gold diamond, iron, nickel and uranium yet poverty is so severe that the country was ranked among the top 1% of most corrupt countries in Africa. In fact according to a report by UN, Guinea ranks 160th out of 177 in the UN’s Development scale.

According to available documents 70% of revenue from of all mineral exports every year finds its way in the bank accounts of Lansana Conte and his cronies. Today the people lack portable water and electricity. Roads, rail lines, telecommunication, schools, hospitals are in severe deplorable conditions while money meant for their repair and maintenance sit in Europe and America being protected by banking secrecy laws. According to Aljazeera a credible and popular news broadcaster, corruption is so woven in Guinean society that school girls need not study as their promotion to next class is always assured by their male teachers who solicit sex from them. According to the students, those who refuse to sleep with their teachers are made to repeat a year in class. Female teachers on the other hand demand money to be paid in exchange for higher marks.

Why won’t the people be poor when their livelihoods have been taken away from them? Why?

On Friday 31, 2007 the Guardian newspaper in Britain reported a corruption scandal perpetrated by former president of Kenya Daniel Arap Moi and his family. According to the Guardian a 110 page report prepared by international risk consultancy firm Kroll exposed Arap Moi and his family and accused them of banking £1 billion in 28 countries including Britain. The report went further to say that the family used Shell Oil Company, secret trusts, front men and his entourage to siphon the money away.

Apart from the money, the Moi family also bought several multimillion pound properties in London, New York, South Africa including 10,000-hectare ranch in Australia and bank accounts containing hundreds of millions of pounds. It is on record that Mr. Moi’s sons Philip and Gideon are wealth £384m and £550m respectively. While majority of Kenyans live in rural areas, and live in mud/thatched houses with bamboo/raffia leaves as roofing sheet the Moi family live in a £4m home in Surrey and £2m flat in Knightsbridge. Arap Moi’s 24 year rule was largely corrupt and contributed to endemic poverty seen in Kenya today.

How do you expect the continent to develop when monies meant for her development are stolen by her leaders and kept by countries who praise themselves as civilised, cultured, loving and democratic?

In South Africa, Jacob Zuma is still battling it out with the court for his part in the multi-billion arms deal in South Africa in 2001. He was forced to resign as Deputy President of South Africa a clear embarrassment to the ANC government of former president Mbeki.

In 2006 former president of Malawi Bakili Muluzi was arrested for pocketing $12m donated to his poor country by foreign governments. Again former Zambia president Frederick Chiluba was arrested together with two business men Aaron Chungu and Faustin Kabwe and charged with 11 counts of stealing money meant for the Zambia’s development.

In Equatorial Guinea where oil export has earned the country billions of dollars, the 600,000 people living in the country continue to live in poverty while Teodoro Obiang Nguema and his cronies continue to siphon the oil revenue with no accountability.

Gabon and Angola both Oil exporting countries are no different. In fact, the governments in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea can best be described as Kleptocracy that is government by thieves. In countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, The Gambia, Sudan, Uganda, Libya, Tunisia a Kleptocracy class of people have replaced anything democracy. In these countries very few people continue to remain in power and the people have no say in the way their country is govern or run. For example Gaddafi of Libya has been in power for 39 years now. Omar Bongo of Gabon 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt 27 years and the list is unending.

How do you expect a person to rule for 30 years without being corrupt?

What is clear is that these unelected leaders continue to amass wealth at the expense of their poor countries and continue to mismanage whatever remains of their corrupt activities. Because most of the leaders are former military officers or former rebels with no grasp of economics and management, they are unable to formulate any good economic policies that will transform and grow their economies hence poverty has become a part of the people but their leaders know not what poverty is.

In DR Congo it is estimated that gold and diamond deposits alone could fetch the country 23 trillion dollars not to mention the abundance of timber and other several minerals that are found in large quantities such as columbo-tantalite (coltan) and cassiterite (tin ore) yet years of corruption, mismanagement, conflicts and foreign involvement have made this resource rich nation one of the poorest in the world.

It is often said that western nations cannot maintain their current level of lifestyle without Congo and most corporations in the west can easily go bust without Congo. The question is if Congo is the blood line of the west and the west is rich because of Congo then why is Congo so poor?

And where are the billions of dollars from the sale of these minerals? The answer lies in the history of the nation which is endemic corruption, colonialism, armed conflicts and foreign involvements. Mobutu in his 32 year reign is believed to have taken several billions of dollars from the treasury and deposited it in his numerous Swiss bank accounts. When President Kabila requested the Swiss for the money to be returned he was told Mobutu had just $7.6m. President Kabila frustrated and disappointment with the Swiss announcement said he had expected the Swiss to announce something like $1 billion or more.

But unconfirmed report indicate that the Swiss decided not to give the billions of dollars to the Congo government for fear that it would be stolen again by Kabila and his regime who are also deadly corrupt. Mobutu have several villas and mansions in France and Switzerland bought with money stolen from the Congo people. In 2001, items auctioned in his luxurious home in Switzerland fetched $100,000. The billions of dollars taken away from the country have made Congo one of the poorest in Africa. In Congo today there are no schools, hospitals, roads, telecommunication, rail, electricity and potable water. The only means of transport is through River Congo.

Everyday in Walikale about 16 aircraft fly out of the city with loads of minerals bound for Rwanda. These stolen minerals further find their way in the western mineral markets in London and Switzerland. The proceeds are shared by the Generals, politicians, western companies the businessmen in Rwanda, the warlords in Congo who use part of their share to acquire weapons that are used to terrorise the people and prolong the war. Watch the video below about Congo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io8c81xHLmw

Conclusion

Western governments are quick to preach good governance to Africa but they fail to preach the same message to their banks who act as save havens for these corrupt leaders. The western governments have forgotten that the existence of bank secrecy laws in Switzerland, Jersey Island, Britain, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Austria have encouraged these corrupt leaders to bank away monies meant for their countries’ development.

The name of Switzerland, Britain, France, Jersey Island, Liechtenstein and Luxemburg came up several times throughout this study of corruption in Africa as I try to establish where most of the stolen monies go. Even though these countries like to portray themselves as civilised and cultured with hearts of angels, they have failed to recognise that keeping monies that were dishonestly obtained from the poor people on earth taint whatever reputation they might have. In the case of Switzerland and her allies who keep these stolen monies it is so pathetic that they know they are receiving stolen monies yet due to greed they have done nothing to stop it.

The next time you are looking for stolen money from your country ask the Swiss government and the Swiss banks they always have a clue about it where about.

Africa is poor today because of colluding and connivance of Swiss and other western banks and the kleptocrats who rule Africa. Corruption is rife on the continent because those who steal the money never lack a place to hide them.

Fighting corruption should not be left to the poor countries alone.

Western media who always portray Africa as underdeveloped and backward must expose the banks in their countries who serve as save havens. The media should put pressure on politicians in Europe and America to reform the banking secrecy laws and make it punishable offence to receive monies from these corrupt leaders. Again the western media must campaign vigorously for all looted monies to be returned to their rightful owners in Africa. The western media must team up with civil organisations to expose western companies who pay bribes to secure contracts in Africa like Acres International, Halliburton, Trafigura, Achair Partners and Progresso.

Western countries have a duty to stop their nations being used as save havens for stolen monies from the African continent. Western countries should reform their banking laws. They should return all looted money put there by corrupt African leaders to the African people. There must be an international coalition dedicated to tracking all stolen monies on the face of the earth with Africa given to priority.

Africans should establish well funded independent Corruption watchdogs to investigate, prosecute and severely punish corrupt officials who engage in corrupt practices. The Africans must demand transparency and accountability in government. Laws must be enacted in Africa to protect whistle blowers who take the risk to expose corrupt practices.

It is by uniting to fight corruption that Africa can ever dream of parting with poverty.

Lord Aikins Adusei
http://www.articlesbase.com/economics-articles/corruption-in-africa-a-cancer-that-wont-go-away-738350.html

Corruption in Africa: a Cancer That Won’t Go Away

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:33:38 +0000