Young Professionals - Commission of Inquiry : necessity or indulgence?

Commission of inquiries are becoming quite common in Mauritius and they are being set up, whether it is to combat drugs, corruption or police brutality. Proponents believe that these commissions will help to determine the truth while for opponents, it is a waste of time and resources. The young generation debates on this issue.

Catherine Khoart : “These institutions are not enough”

Catherine Khoart states that these institutions are helpful in our Mauritian society, especially when we have been witnessing fraudulent acts lately. “As individuals from all sectors of our society, we should target a better and healthier environment for future generations. For instance, we can take Singapore as role model, as it is recognized worldwide as one of the least corrupted countries.”

She argues that relying on these institutions is not enough. “We can have Citizens Report Cards, promote Reporting platforms and even create mobile applications to promote transparency. We have so many tools, such as Integrity Camps, Petitions, Sign Pledges, which can all be impactful to empower citizens in building up a better society. Meanwhile, we need to think about sustainability and the root causes of corruption and other social evils.

I believe that a long term solution is education. We need to promote Civic Education in secondary schools, universities and even at our workplaces. Human and moral values should be a must in our education and it starts at home, in our family. We should empower our educators to nurture these values which are the foundation of good citizenship and can be shared by all individuals, regardless of their religion and culture. They induce consideration for others simply through truth, right conduct, peace, love, integrity, honesty, empathy and non-violence.”

Girishalini Ramana : “Commissions alone cannot function against all the evils of society”

Law, justice and order are the basic pillars for a firm and smooth functioning of a country’s order system, says Girishalini. “A country without them would just be in a state of great turmoil. The different bodies of law and order established in Mauritius spare no efforts in serving their purposes. All these agencies compound to form a great force that stands against the evils of society.

The law and order agencies of Mauritius alone cannot prevent all the crimes from happening. Through education, our society can be instilled with the appropriate norms and values. People can attend value educational classes offered by many organizations that work towards making an individual a better version of himself.  The more people involve themselves in benevolent work, the better individuals they become.  Hence, immorality can certainly decline.”

Keshvin Balloo : “There is a bad perception”

All sorts of outrageous scandals have arisen during the past few years, says Keshvin. “Drugs, money laundering, abuse of power, police brutality, high level corruption and so on are hitting newspaper headlines nowadays. Following these issues, independent commissions have been set up to enlighten the cases concerned. However, an important point to be noted is that, most of the time, political activists and nominees are at the head of these independent commissions. This definitely creates a very bad perception in the minds of people.”

He further adds: “If we compare the aim of the commissions and those who sit at the top management, there is a huge red flag. The commissions can either deliver an outstanding work or there can be reasonable suspicion of bias whereby there are cover ups. Above all, the statistics speak for themselves. These commissions can still fail as long as there are political appointments. Better alternatives do exist to promote impartiality.”

Thyvraj Nagadoo : “The commissions act as a major weapon”

Thyvraj believes that the setting up of the various commissions will undoubtedly be a major weapon to shield our society. “Giving the limelight to ICAC and other independent commissions to act diligently would alleviate a lot of our society’s burden, provided that a righteous and ceaseless coordination with governmental bodies is established. Drug trafficking and such plagues are very serious issues which need to be dealt with utmost diligence, where the slightest information leak can be fatal. I firmly believe that these independent commissions, would, at their end, act rightfully, tactfully and most importantly, independently.”

He hopes that the independent commissions, in line with the government’s determination, will live up to the tall order in their pledge to eradicate adversities in our society.