George’s your uncle!

There is no doubt that the news story that caught most people's attention this week was the one relating to the Malta Community Chest Fund and Darleen Zerafa, who is closely related to the president's daughter-in-law.

There have been several rumblings about the MCCF over the last few years. It was just three years ago that this paper reported how a TV production company, Image 2000, belonging to Marica Mizzi, the president's press secretary, was bought out by the president's office. The directors of the company, Fabian Mizzi and Noel Pace, were offered a lifeline, in the form of employment with the Malta Community Chest Fund.

The picture that is slowly emerging is one of a president who has taken on the role of a philanthropic pater familias, getting involved whenever his nearest and dearest are in trouble and using the considerable means at his disposal to save the day.

If the reports are true, which appears to be the case - given that so far no denials or explanations have been given in either case - then President George Abela used public money to bail out Marica Mizzi and proposed using money collected for purposes of charity to fund Darleen Zerafa.

In the first case his actions were totally out of order, given the fact that public procurement laws and possibly also employment laws were not followed. In the second case his actions were immoral, given the fact that Darleen Zerafa could easily have applied for a scholarship to fund her studies, and it was absolutely unnecessary to use monies that were supposedly destined to help those who are truly in need. This apart from the fact, of course, that he should never have proposed giving money to his daughter-in-law's sister simply because of the close family connection. He should have refrained in order to avoid bring the MCCF into disrepute. There is no doubt that his actions have cast a shadow over the excellent work that the MCCF has done over the years and that people will think twice about donating now that they know about the cavalier way that their money is being administered.

The aforementioned issues make the fact that the president opted not to register the MCCF with the Voluntary Organisations Commissioner, who is responsible for "monitoring the promotion of voluntary organisations and the behaviour of administrators of such organisation to ensure the observance of high standards of accountability and transparency and compliance with law" appear rather ominous.

I am perhaps being naïve, but surely it would have been in the best interest of the president, who is presiding over the administration of large sums of money donated by the public, to encourage the maximum transparency possible and furthermore to act as a  role model for how a charity should be run. The president had an opportunity to lead the way and show everyone how it should be done, but instead he has flunked the test miserably, turning himself and his administration into a case study of exactly how things should not be done.

The pity is that ultimately the beneficiaries of the Malta Community Chest Fund are going to pay the price for the president's nepotism and underhanded actions.

Much as Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil was reviled for promoting his nephew to the post of chief secretary for Ireland (giving rise to the British expression "Bob's your uncle" for the ease of achieving a task), the Maltese are disgusted when they see people in privileged positions unashamedly using their power to benefit their family members and close friends.

I guess that the next time the MCCF organises a fundraising campaign, the Maltese are likely to reply, "Give money to MCCF? Do you think George is my uncle?"