The Roots of Corruption in Our Society

It is around 7:30pm. I have just gotten home from my normal hustles of the day. I drop my bag in my bedroom and heads to the living room, all I want to do is spend some quality time with my family, and know how everyone’s day has been… Just then, my phone rings. “Damn!” Wrong timing. I check the caller to decide whether I should pick it or call later. Victor calling. Huh! I have to pick. He is a good friend. I had promised to call earlier regarding a question he had asked on my previous blog post, but it passed me.

“Hello! How are you doing today? Would you mind if I call you later?” But he insisted that we have the conversation. It was all about causes of corruption.

I have learnt on the importance of bringing up your children the right way.  This is always the foundation of what or whom the children will be when they grow up. Parents who tolerate some vices put their kids at the risk of growing up to believe that, such vices are not bad but pretty normal. This influence is even very powerful, most so if such parents are consistent with the acts. A simple act like giving your kid some lose change every single time you send him or her to the shop might seems noble, but it actually affects the kid’s perception about being sent to the shop.

Corruption has become a norm in our society, in most cases, it’s no longer viewed as real evil but a pure blessing. But why is this sad reality? What might be fundamentally wrong with our society? The answers lies in both cultural nature and economical state of our nation.

Majority of domestic workers in the country, are lowly paid. In my country, the teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers among other professions are poorly paid compared to the services that they offer. Due to the Low Pay scales or Wages, they cannot meet up their needs. As a result of such circumstances, they tend to revert to corruption as an easy alternative source of income.

A few months ago, I almost gave in to corruption in the name of seeking for employment. A good number of graduates today are jobless or underemployed. This is due to Low Employment Rates and Opportunities. Majority people opt to “this” mode to get the job offers. They will be ready to pay lump sum amounts for the job offers or even giving favors.

Our society is notorious for letting corruption culprits go scot free without facing prosecution and punishment for their crimes. This is evidenced by the “feeble” institutions tasked with fighting corruption. Inadequacy of Strict and Fast Punishments is always the order of the day: Even if someone is found with overwhelming evidence of involvement in corruption by the anti-corruption officials or media, the culprits get less or no punishment at all. First, they will be suspended for few months or weeks, and then re-posted to another location with same job grade and pay. So, this means the official who practiced corruption is given a clean bill of health to continue propagating the vice. If the government would be so strict that any such corrupt incidents  lead to permanent removal from job and also punishments like several years imprisonment or freezing of assets, then the corruption will come down to a large extent.

Our society takes the phrase “There is no such a thing as a bad publicity” too seriously, thus Lack of Ill Fame. If a person is suspected of corruption or has done some unacceptable misconduct, he or she ought to be avoided and not be respected. In our society, those with corruption and other related offenses, are considered for prominent positions like powerful political positions or even senior government jobs. Instead of being shunned they are respected and appreciated.

The Public openly criticizes corruption, but interestingly there is No Unity among them to stop corruption. “The Mtu Wetu” analogy always play a major role in the fight against corruption. If a person is implicated of corruption, he or she will be defended fiercely by some of his or her friends, relatives, ethnicity or political affiliation. If the public stands united against corruption in such a way that no one tolerates corrupt officials regardless of who they are to them, they will have no other option but not to engage in corruption.

During election, politicians try to lure the people by offering money and other things. If these politicians win and get power, they try to recover 10 to 100 times the amount spent in their elections.

In selection or recruitment processes, for instance in education, contracts for jobs, there is No Transparency. Opening the acts of those in public offices to public scrutiny will greatly reduce corruption. Corruption is prevalent when there are no criteria for proven integrity and responsibility in the promotion. Such criteria are ignored when someone is promoted simply because of their loyalty to whoever is in charge or those in control of the party. Or if it is only their strategic or organizational skills that are evaluated. Obviously, someone can be wrong when it comes to promotion, but there should be no problem distinguishing between a simple mistake and culpable ignorance due to negligence or a lack of ethical assessment.

We Absence Independent Detective Agencies which can investigate with full power and freedom to expose the corrupt individuals. As a result of this, anyone who commits offense is not shaken, they will simply find their way out either through their own power of the pocket, influence from powerful friends, or support from the ruling political party.

Deficiency of Enough Powers to the Judicial System and other independent organization.  Like the election commission cannot easily ban a politician from contesting in case of malpractices or them failing to comply with the rules during election campaign. Similarly, the judicial system find it difficult charging someone who is found guilty if he or she is or affiliated to powerful people. In Kenya, leadership is providing bad example by opening criticizing the highest court in the country because the ruling was against them.

Competition in business is good for high quality products and service delivery. But our society encourages Unhealthy Competition. In the case of tendering, you’ll notice that only few companies bid for it. This is because the companies connected to politicians and various powerful or influential people have higher chances of winning the tenders than others do. This is oblivion to the fact that such companies might not be even qualified. With that, companies owned by common citizens will shy away despite being more than qualified. That is why the number of bidders for a tenders will be low due to political interference.

There is a Decline of Personal Ethical Sensitivity, either due to lack of education or negative learning experiences, developed by downplaying perverse conduct in the past. Should ethical education be put under review? Is it time for a personal reassessment with sincerity and repentance, to learn more about its influence in promoting positive learning?

Corruption is a dark mojo that our society must break free of. By not doing the don’ts and instead adopting to a culture that is characterized by honesty, integrity and transparency. Allowing corruption to thrive in our society is like striking a Faustian Bargain, it will eventually leads to our downfall and demise as a civilization.