An open letter to President Ravalomanana

Dear Mr. President:

Your salary increase proposal defies common sense. It is puzzling, to say the least. While I applaud you for recognizing that something should be done about corruption, I must say that I do not agree with your approach. I do not understand how an accomplished businessman of your calibre can be naive enough to believe that a salary increase will stop corruption. If the members of your administration cannot resist temptation without this huge salary increase, then they really do not deserve to be on your staff, do they? To the best of my knowledge, public officials are supposed to be civil servants, not civil bosses. History has consistently proven that money is not a corruption antidote. If it were, Ratsiraka and his cronies would have been up for sainthood by now. Please learn from your past, Mr. President, for as the saying goes ?those who do not learn from the past are condemned to relive it.?

I categorically reject the justifications you gave for your actions. Does it bother you to know that while you pay the members of your administration $3,500 per month (i.e. $42,000 per year) , the average Malagasy barely makes around $400 per year? It does not really matter where the money came from, for this increase, and how the donors wished it to be used. Your intentions to bring these civil servants? salaries in line with their foreign counterparts? may have been honourable, and what you did may be perfectly legal, but I do not believe it is ethical. With one stroke of your mighty pen, you have widened the already abysmal gap between the rich and the poor, and you have created a new breed of self-righteous ?nouveaux riches?, with a distinctive pedigree. You have given the nod for the start of a feeding frenzy at the public trough!

If you really want your officials to effectively combat corruption, make them take a simple boy scout oath ?not to lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do?, and tell them that heads will roll if this pledge is violated, in any way. Obviously, you cannot legislate ethics. However, you can send a powerful message, and let the chips fall where they may.

You made quite a few promises during the election campaign. Please remember, Mr. President, that while those eloquently spoken promises got you where you are, today, only your actions will keep you there. You keep promising your fellow citizens a better standard of living, and although they cannot live on dreams and promises alone, they graciously give you a sincere standing ovation, every time. Keeping these promises should be your number one priority. Once you have successfully delivered on these promises, then and only then, can you entertain the idea of a merit-based salary increase?

What you urgently need, right now, is to come up with an actionable strategic plan: · for establishing a minimum wage requirement which will bring up the poorest of the poor above the subsistence level · for revolutionizing the educational system, so that your college and university graduates can, one day, effectively compete in the global arena · for providing quality healthcare to everyone

Once again, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours, Mr. President. And may God keep and bless you, always.

Sincerely, J. F. Razanamiadana