Corruption by the water
After 3 months (already!) in Kinshasa, the honeymoon is definitely over and I am going through a rough adaptation phase. A small vacation is then in order and I decided to take the visiting Boyfriend to Brazzaville for the week-end. It takes 5 minutes by boat to change countries but, turns out, you have to go through the Beach first to board.
As far as corruption, endless bureaucracy and hassle go, nothing beats the Beach, not even the airport. Like many places, you are welcomed by agressive « representatives » that take you through all the steps. When they see two Mindele (whites/Europeans), their eyes light up at the possibility of having hit the jackpot. Our protocols simply showed passports and vaccination cards when required, with the mandatory arguing with the official trying to get money. Nothing we couldn’t do.
Going about with our money, they paid for our exit stamps with our money. Thing is : those are free. After 20 minutes, 3 phone calls to friends for inquiry and extensive arguing with the immigration ladies, we got all our money back and the « representatives » were fired on the spot. Then, we deal with another « representative » (wants money), customs (wants money) and waiting for the boat as your passport disappears in some unseen office. We had to go through this 4 times, twice on each shore.
At the Brazza shore, for extra fun, my purse was also searched bill by bill, piece by piece, by a cop trying to find something to pin on us, in hopes that we would get nervous and pay out. I was also called a racist for refusing the help of a « representative ».
State employees don’t receive their salaries here. The point of having a governmental job is to have a position from which you can receive bribes thereby earning a salary. Such is the reality with all the state positions : traffic cops, airport employees, any ministry employee, etc. Every government service comes with an « extra » tax, the amount of which depending on whether you have a contact or not.
All this you can understand theoretically, but when you actually have to go through the hassle and end up on the boat exhausted and weary of arriving on shore, is it really a vacation?
As far as corruption, endless bureaucracy and hassle go, nothing beats the Beach, not even the airport. Like many places, you are welcomed by agressive « representatives » that take you through all the steps. When they see two Mindele (whites/Europeans), their eyes light up at the possibility of having hit the jackpot. Our protocols simply showed passports and vaccination cards when required, with the mandatory arguing with the official trying to get money. Nothing we couldn’t do.
Going about with our money, they paid for our exit stamps with our money. Thing is : those are free. After 20 minutes, 3 phone calls to friends for inquiry and extensive arguing with the immigration ladies, we got all our money back and the « representatives » were fired on the spot. Then, we deal with another « representative » (wants money), customs (wants money) and waiting for the boat as your passport disappears in some unseen office. We had to go through this 4 times, twice on each shore.
At the Brazza shore, for extra fun, my purse was also searched bill by bill, piece by piece, by a cop trying to find something to pin on us, in hopes that we would get nervous and pay out. I was also called a racist for refusing the help of a « representative ».
State employees don’t receive their salaries here. The point of having a governmental job is to have a position from which you can receive bribes thereby earning a salary. Such is the reality with all the state positions : traffic cops, airport employees, any ministry employee, etc. Every government service comes with an « extra » tax, the amount of which depending on whether you have a contact or not.
All this you can understand theoretically, but when you actually have to go through the hassle and end up on the boat exhausted and weary of arriving on shore, is it really a vacation?
Posted @ 4:13 PM
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