Five years ago, I was part of a conversation
about our values as a society. There was consensus in the group that corruption
and ethnic mobilization in politics would push Kenya off the cliff.
A young man rose up to contribute to the
discussion. Joe was 21 years old then. He said that among his generation, what
we call corruption was normal and that was the Kenya he knew. The group was
stunned.
A study of East African youth by the East
African Institute of the Aga Khan University revealed that 30 percent of Kenyan
youth believe corruption is profitable, 50 percent believe it doesn’t matter how one makes, 35 percent of the youth would readily take
or give a bribe and 40 percent would only vote for the person who bribed them. Only
40 percent of our youth think it is important to pay taxes.
You probably know about the 400,000
uncollected national identity cards. Just 17 months before the next elections,
you can bet this is politically significant. One of the 400,000 IDs belongs to
someone I know.
Early last week a friend went to the County
Commission office in Westlands to collect her ID. Having guessed the purpose of
her early morning visit, the man across the window declared that her ID was not
in the large tray containing thousands of IDs bundled and stacked in
alphabetical order. With naïve innocence, she asked how the man would be
certain that her ID was not in the stack without knowing her name. The public
official asked, with authoritative impatience, for my friend’s name. Her last
name starts with letter “H”.
The officer picked up the large tray and
went into the back office. He returned with the large tray but without the IDs
in the letter “H” section. With solemn finality he reaffirmed that my friend’s
ID was not in the stack. My friend recounted this incident to her taxi driver
who said she passed an invitation to give a bribe to collect her ID. This is an
incredible and shameful story. But such are the everyday experiences of
Kenyans.
Early this year Chief Justice Willy Mutunga
said Kenyan citizens were at war with mafia-style cartels run by political
bosses and corrupt businesspeople. A couple of weeks ago President Kenyatta
gave a shocking eyewitness account of two police officers collecting bribes
from motorists in Mombasa. Parents bribe school heads to secure admission for
their children. Doctors receive bribes to make referrals. Motorists bribe
security guards to get parking slots. Pastors take money to say special
prayers. And now, the $2 million bribery allegation against Justice
Tunoi threatens to bring down the Supreme Court. In November last year Mr.
Kenyatta requested Pope Francis to pray for him as he leads the war against
corruption.
This is the society
in which Joe and millions young Kenyans, who constitute about 80 percent of our
population, are being raised. Corruption is no longer regarded as some moral or
ethical aberration. Corruption is just “Chai”
or “Kitu Kidogo”. Corruption is culturally acceptable in our society.
Somehow, we idolatrize corrupt individuals:
they hold high office; we think of them as successful we elect them to lead; they
are charitable; they sit in the front row in religious house, and our faith
leaders say special prayers for them; they are role models for the youth.
Corruption does not only beget more corruption, it breeds a culture of
corruption. Ours is a veritable culture of corruption, transmitted across
generations.
Corruption in Kenya is not about a few
vulgar individuals. Ours is a culture that honors and privileges the corrupt. It
is therefore improbable that a presidential decree backed up by papal intercession
or an empowered EACC backed up by a legion of donors can even begin to
undermine the allure or powerful appeal of corruption in our society.
A significant proportion of our youth
believe corruption is profitable. This presents a worrying intergenerational
crisis of integrity. Corruption is simply theft, immoral pillage of public
resources. Corruption is an
evil, one no less than tyranny.
Unfortunately corruption has become part of our national heritage. The tree of corruption is well grounded n is flourished.
ReplyDeleteThe young people of this nation learn from the best . The end justifies the means . Bribery is in numerous forms . If you are keen , most young people prefer to study supply chain management so as to gain easy entry into the till .
Tenderprenourship is the fuel of corruption .