Using public funds to enrich oneself cannot bring true happiness. Write an essay in support of this statement, citing illustrations from John Lara’s The Samaritan.
Some people use money meant to be invested in the public sector to make themselves wealthy or wealthier. This does not give them the fulfilling or satisfying feeling that comes with true happiness. They may have the riches but they lack the peace and harmony of body, mind and soul. In The Samaritan by John Lara, leaders like Ted and Seymour use public funds to enrich themselves but this does not give them true happiness.
Jaden uses public funds to enrich himself but this does not give him true happiness. Justice Ian Jaden is the principal judge in Maracas Municipality. He has countless mistresses and relatives doing business with the municipal council(P69). Together with his mistress Ivy, he is involved in the grain scandal. He uses his position to compel Mossi to award Ivy a contract for killing rats and other rodents ravaging rice and cornfields in the municipality(P106). His company, Prime Orchard Farm, was rearing rats which were let loose into the farms. They would then kill and parade some but the whole idea was to undermine domestic production in order to increase demand for imported grains. Prime Orchard Farm is one of the largest corn importers in the municipality(P107). To Jaden, using his public office to amass a fortune for himself seemed a normal thing since everybody else was doing it. Litigants gave him money and he ruled kisses in their favour. It worked and he accumulated wealth. He looked forward to retiring soon and enjoying the fruits of his labour. He is like the foolish rich man in the good book who also prepared to retire and enjoy his wealth(P112). Instead of enjoying, he suffers. He holds his stomach with both hands while bending down. He suffers from stomach ulcers and hallucinations. Mossi wants him to jail Ramdaye and his team but this puts Jaden in a dilemma because he helped some friends by making a biased ruling and they paid him by giving him shares in a company the municipal council is suing. He claims the ethos operating in society influences his thinking and action as a judge(P116). He does not enjoy true happiness even after amassing wealth. He has been tormented by the issue of the rodents. He has been seeing rats and other rodents running all over the place and he has been catching the awful smell of sewer rats which makes him want to throw up. His stomach aches. His ulcers have since worsened(P117). Justice Jaden crouches under the boardroom table when accosted by Tajo, the anti-corruption boss(P138). Together with others, he is handcuffed and bundled out by the police officers(P139). Truly, true happiness cannot be found by stealing public wealth.
Bembe also uses public funds to make himself wealthy but this does not give him satisfaction or fulfillment. People are wondering where he got the money to put up Madingo Golf Club. He is shocked when he learns that people know it belongs to him having kept his private affairs discreet(P26). He says that this is his worst nightmare. This exposé comes at a time when he had just finished putting up his hotel and is as broke as a church mouse(P31). He informs Mossi and Harvester about the high likelihood of his untimely death anytime soon(P38). He found out from The Samaritan that he is accused of corruption, violation of human rights, drug peddling and extortion. This gives him the willies – a strong feeling of nervous discomfort – and his blood sugar is not good. At one point he drifted into a coma(P38). His hotel and home are also built on public land – Maracas University land. A lobby group is moving to court to have it restored back to the university (P40). With a dreadful expression on his face, Bembe says that that would be a very unfortunate joke(P40). He breathes heavily and trembles. He also gets a little bit hard of hearing. He had put all his life savings into the hotel and home since he is retiring in a few months time(P41). The hotel was built with bribes collected from motorists. The municipal police force is his personal outfit for collecting bribes from the guilty and innocent alike. The officers do not enforce law and order. They collect bribes for Bembe(P41). His foiled attempt to intimidate Nicole puts him in more trouble. She is acquitted but he is summoned to the capital by his bosses to explain the folly(P100). He tells Mossi that they are doomed. He prefers to die than be an inmate or a homeless person. His stomach has been running since The Samaritan came to town. He cannot last a week in prison since he is diabetic(P99). He has run out of ideas and wants to flee into the mountains, dig a hole and live there(P100). He does not enjoy his ill-gotten wealth since he is eventually arrested by the anti corruption police. He staggers and almost falls as he seeks cover but he is still handcuffed and bundled out like a criminal. Indeed, stealing public wealth causes misery not true happiness.
Seymour, the secretary in charge of planning and development, uses public funds to enrich himself but this does not give him true happiness. Mossi calls him a senseless thief. He was elected just the other day as a poor and jigger-infested hoodlum. Now he is living like a king in grandiose villas and mansions, eating delicacies in classy hotels and driving state-of-the-art vehicles. He cannot justify his current financial status. Mossi wonders who doesn’t know that he has stolen the money(P35). Seymour is accused of supplying air to the municipal council. Their companies bill the municipal council huge sums of money every month without rendering any services(P24). To cover up, he suggests they get money from the municipal fund through reallocation of budget line items(P33). They could use the problem of the waste disposal system which is in a terrible state to justify the reallocation but use the money to fight against the prosecution(P33). In the past, he has misused public funds through regular travel with enhanced allowances, sitting allowances for unnecessary committee meetings, loans and mortgages(P34). In his department of planning and development, one has to part with dollars to get building approval. The inspectorate unit under him is also riddled with corruption(P66). Seymour does not get true happiness from his illicitly acquired wealth. His eldest child is always at rehab, the other one is inebriated permanently at the casino and the wife is total garbage and a perpetual drunk(P70). He is also arrested by the anti-corruption police. He is handcuffed and bundled out of the room. Surely, ill-gotten wealth can never be a source of true happiness.
Ted King acquires wealth illegally by stealing public funds but this does not bring him true happiness. Mossi calls him a senseless thief. Ted is the secretary, Department of Health and environment. He was elected just the other day as a poor and jigger-infested hoodlum. Now he lives in grandiose villas and mansions like a king, indulging in delicacies in classy hotels and drives state-of-the-art vehicles. He cannot justify his financial status. He stole public money(P35). He is accused alongside Seymour of supplying air to the municipal council. Their companies bill the municipal council huge sums of money without rendering any service(P24). He supports Seymour’s suggestion of using municipal funds to take care of investigators, lawyers, prosecutors and judges(P33). He is infamous for forcing Mossi to misuse public funds for regular travel with enhanced allowances , sitting allowances for unnecessary committee meetings, loans and mortgages(P34). Despite having stolen a lot of public funds, he cannot raise a meaningful amount to fight the cases that may be brought up against them(P31). Ted is accused of “eating” a whole hospital. He ensured his companies and those of his friends won the tenders for bids for construction of health centres. He stole all the money budgeted for health centres and put up site offices that looked like cowsheds(P64). Ted is now sickly despite accumulating wealth illegally(P65). When he offers Nicole a golden ring, she declines and says that she doesn’t wear them. This is awkward and embarrassing (P132). Ted is later arrested by the anti-corruption police. Indeed, stealing public funds to make one wealthy does not make one truly happy.
Lastly, Mossi also enriches himself using proceeds of corruption but this does not make him truly happy. Seymour tells Mossi that he will never get away with the crimes committed under his watch. He says that Mossi knows how much he has stolen(P34). When he learns that people can use the app to share information about the municipal procurement process, he scratches his head thoughtfully, sips some water and turns uncertainly towards the school principal and then Harvester. Mossi refuses to launch the app(P21) and convenes a meeting of key leaders to fight the app instead because the information posted casts the leaders in bad light(P23). Mossi admits that all the leaders have some skeletons in their closet(P29). In the past, he has conceded to endless demands of misallocation of public funds ranging from regular travel with enhanced allowances, sitting allowances for unnecessary committee meetings, loans and mortgages(P34). He temporarily loses consciousness when he learns that his deputy, Seymour and Ted are working to bundle him out of office. He fears they will send him to prison. He sees Baneta Express Prison any time he closes his eyes. He can even smell the revolting stench in the cells though he has never been there(P33). Mossi is accused of many crimes including municipal capture, which is the worst form of corruption and abuse of office in which once private interests determine the direction of public policy. Mossi is forced to own up his mistakes and seek understanding and help from Ms Nicole, a simple school teacher(P60). He even offers her and the students a bribe in his desperation(P61). Mossi admits that he steals public wealth when he says that a loaf of bread for the people comes through him and he takes three slices for himself because he is part of the people(P69). He is also accused of inflating costs of municipal projects and presiding over shoddy municipal works(P61). He is forced to apologize to Nicole for treading on her toes(P132). He is also humiliated when she turns down the offer of the prestigious position of director general in the municipal council(P135). When confronted by the police officers arresting them, he tries to hide behind Nicole(P138). Clearly, stealing public funds to make one wealthy does not bring true happiness or satisfaction.
In conclusion, those who steal public funds do not find joy or fulfillment, instead they constantly worry about how they can protect their ill-gotten wealth.
