Uncle Ho’s teaching of “making our military free of corruption and wastefulness” is of great significance to not only the fight against corruption and wastefulness within our Military but also the increased public trust in the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA). Following his teaching positively contributes to preventing manifestations of degradation, “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” as well as making the Military strong politically, ideologically, morally, and organisationally.

In his lifetime, President Ho Chi Minh paid particular attention to the prevention of corruption and wastefulness. He defined corruption as “the embezzlement of the people’s money”, “the misappropriation of soldiers’ assets”, “theft of public property and tax evasion”; wastefulness as that of money, time, labour power, etc. He equated corruption and wastefulness with “the enemy of the people, the military and the government” and “the enemy from within”, resulting from “individuals’ fear of difficulties and hardships”. Describing the fight against corruption and wastefulness as equally important compared to the war against the enemy on the battlefield, he put forward countermeasures, such as improving revolutionary morality, wiping out individualism, combating red tape, exercising democracy, etc.

As for the Military, President Ho Chi Minh attached much importance to moral education and prevention of wrongdoings, including corruption and wastefulness. On June 15th, 1957, during his talk with military units at Military Region 4, Uncle Ho reiterated that “Making the military free of corruption and wastefulness is a must” and “Our Military and Public Security Forces shall focus on political and technical education, Homeland protection, maintenance of national security and social order as well as agricultural production and thrift emulation efforts”. In June, 1957, he required that the Military “further exercise labour discipline and practise thrift”. In his letter dated August 10th, 1956, to residents in the Viet Bac war zone, Uncle Ho wrote: “Cadres, soldiers, civilians and Party members shall always unite together, stay close to and serve the people, show industry, thrift, integrity and uprightness as well as resolutely combat red tape, corruption and wastefulness”. Delivering his opening address at the 2nd plenum of the 2nd Party Central Committee on January, 25th, 1953, he emphasised “the Party’s strengthened leadership over the Military”, “the strict enforcement of the Party and Government’s policies”, “the maintenance of self-discipline”, “the exercise of democracy within the Military”. In March, 1959, he strongly advised “against the excessive equipment of paper desks and typewriters to eschew red tape” as well as “the practice of industry and thrift”. In fact, the case of Sr. Col. Tran Du Chau testified to Uncle Ho’s resolve to combat corruption.

Following President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching, our Military has always attached much importance to the fight against red tape, corruption and wastefulness over the course of its building, fighting and maturing. In its very early days, the military, by means of its oaths of honour and discipline, educated all of its members to “never steal even a needle or a piece of thread from the people”, to economise on ammunition and petrol in the spirit of viewing guns and ammunition as “wives and children”, “vehicles as offspring and petrol as blood”, etc. This spirit was embodied in the execution of campaigns launched by our Party in the 1960s, including “three buildings and three counterings”, “fostering a sense of responsibility, enhancing economic and financial management, promoting technical improvements and countering corruption, wastefulness and red tape”.

In recent years, many countermeasures have been adopted, such as Plan No.64-KH/QUTW dated February 1st, 2017 by the Central Military Commission, or Plan of Action No. 2518/CTr-BQP dated March 13rd, 2017 by the Ministry of National Defence regarding the implementation of the Resolution of the 4th plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee. The entire military has promoted the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts, morality, and lifestyle in parallel with the campaign “Promoting traditions and devoting talent to deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers”.

A lot of emulation movements have yielded tangible results, such as “Military logistics sector follows Uncle Ho’s teachings”, “Effective financial  management”, “The management and exploitation of weapons and technical equipment in an effective, durable, safe, and economical manner and traffic safety”, etc. When organising the above-mentioned movements, Party committees at all levels have paid particular attention to the building of cadres, particularly those holding negative practices-prone positions but acting in strict obedience to morals and regulations on economic and financial management. At the same time, emphasis has also been placed on the implementation of the Ordinance on Grass-roots Democracy. As a result, violations have been detected and handled in a timely and strict manner with “no restricted area”. Cadres and soldiers always portray pure revolutionary morality, fully comply with the State’s laws and military discipline, and practise thrift, thereby proving truly worthy of the noble title “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and the trust of the Party, the State and the people. At the VPA’s 11th Party Congress, Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong commended the military on “strictly executing the work of inspection, supervision, discipline, power control and anti-corruption efforts with no restricted area, contributing to fostering the people’s trust in the Party, the State and the Military”.

However, hostile forces still conspire to lower the prestige of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and to undermine the people’s trust in the military on the pretext of a modest number of cadres and Party members within the military falling prey to individualism and violating military discipline and the State’s laws. Therefore, in order to continue to put Uncle Ho’s teaching into practice to contribute to making the military strong politically, ideologically, morally and organisationally, Party committees at all levels shall focus on thoroughly grasping the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress stipulating “the strict compliance with statutory regulations on thrift and asset declarations, especially for officials in leadership positions at all levels”. Moreover, the implementation of the Resolution of the 4th Plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee on Party building and rectification is required to be in parallel with that of the Conclusion No.01-KL/TW dated May 18th, 2021 by the 13rd Politburo on further studying and emulating Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts, morality, and lifestyle. Equally important, it is necessary to successfully fulfil Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s requirements at the 1st plenum of the Central Military Commission for the 2020-2025 tenure: “The Military shall take the exemplary lead in corruption and individualism crackdown”, “The Military shall uncompromisingly counter hostile and erroneous viewpoints, resolutely combat corruption and negative practices, wipe out individualism, refuse to conceal and fear weaknesses, carry out serious criticism and sincere self-criticism to help one another rectify shortcomings in their very infancy and make progress”.

It is equally important to thoroughly grasp resolutions, directives and legal documents  by the Central Military Commission, the Minister of National Defence and relevant military agencies respectively on combating corruption as the basis for the efficacy of anti-graft efforts. Strong leadership should be demonstrated in financial and economic fields and other negative practices-prone fields in order to eradicate manifestations of misconduct in their very infancy in each cadre and Party member. The study of the Party’s line and the State’s policies and laws on combating corruption should be carried out in various ways with a view to making cadres and soldiers better aware of the root and evils of corruption and wastefulness, thereby heightening their sense of responsibility towards the crackdown. It is also necessary to strictly conform to statutory regulations on disclosure and transparency, including the Minister of National Defence’s Circular No. 07/2014/TT-BQP dated January 23rd, 2014 on disclosure and transparency of asset declarations within the military, as well as to focus on disclosure and transparency of benefits, infrastructure investment, equipment procurement and management and use of national defence land so as to steer clear of violations. The Ordinance on Grassroots Democracy shall be effectively implemented in order to heighten cadres and soldiers’ sense of responsibility towards anti-corruption and anti-wastefulness efforts. The work of inspection and supervision shall be ramped up so as to detect and handle violations in a timely and strict manner with “no restricted area”. Every individual and collective deserves protection from retaliation and commendation in a timely manner for their achievements in the fight against corruption and wastefulness while acts of retaliation against whistleblowers shall be strictly dealt with, thereby contributing to making Party committees and units comprehensively clean, strong and exemplary.

In a letter, the 11th Party Congress of the VPA for the 2020-2025 tenure called for the whole military to “owe absolute loyalty to the Homeland, the Party and the People, stand ready to sacrifice their lives for national independence and socialism,…., maintain discipline and law and order, make Party organisations clean and strong, resolutely counter manifestations of negative practices, red tape and corruption”. This is the sheer determination shared by the whole Military to deserve Uncle Ho’s appraisals that “our Military, loyal to the Party, pious to the people, and ready to fight and sacrifice their lives for national independence and freedom and socialism, will accomplish any tasks, overcome any difficulties, and defeat any enemies”.

CONG MINH