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You must have associated corruption with bribery and biased methodologies in practice but it generally involves abuse of power. Some argue its due to the situation of the environment exposed to or accustomed culture but I incline it to human nature. We are generally selfish beings in nature with opportunistic and self-centered ideologies.

The status of corruption still extends to the built environment and starts at the individual capacities as client, builder or consultant and stretches far wide to institutions such as associations and Government not forgetting the industry presence of manufacturers and suppliers. Yes, it’s not a one man`s affair and did not begin yesterday. Actually, in a given incident or scandal, you may find all mentioned parties involved whether directly or indirectly.

The built environment is a delicate field given that it accommodates one of the 4 basic needs of human life which is housing and shelter. This is an aspect leveraged to be the playground of such crooked dealings. Not once have we had: developers compromising on the roles of consultants, contractors purchasing practicing certificates, consultants interfering with each other`s roles, Government authorities issuing building permits recklessly, associations under capture by sponsored partners hence fail to advocate of bad practices, manufacturers monopolizing materials production and suppliers availing substandard products.

The interesting fact of such incidences is they that eventually catch up with everyone and jeopardizes your unfairly earned benefits. So what next? We all know that there are laws in existence to govern the industry and eradicate such incidences. But what happens? The mantra is I know a guy who knows a guy. Again, it’s a mentality that law is for the commons; the rich and influential are unaffected. Incase it’s the Government, you will hear its not breaking the law because the Government is the law. Such dynamics have completely polluted the culture to an extent that those who follow the law and those who have not, are actually riding the same boat with the same benefits and misfortunes. A case example is where you pay the building permit fee but still provide a facilitation fee to motivate the staff to act on your designs quick enough. Again, one who has all approvals on site and another who misses some are subject to the same allowance to an authority upon a site visit.

I believe laws are created to keep the industry in order since without them, we live like animals. Laws can exist but without enforcement they are completely useless. Another incidence is where a building permit is issued to build on riparian land then later on as construction is underway, the permit is revoked. It becomes a fracas of internal fights between agencies under the tab that the `Government does not understand what the Government is doing’. Such clown shows demotivate even a regular player to take industry matters seriously.

Laws are made for compliance not to be broken. Corruption is just one of the rewards for lack of enforcement. You have seen the level of disruption and losses it has caused in terms of building collapse, defective materials around and increase in construction cost. Let us normalize doing the right thing, at the right time, at the right place and in the right manner no matter what!

Published by CPM Mwangi.

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