Slaying the corruption dragon starts with us

A few weeks ago, I was speaking at a forum on governance and I painted the following picture for the audience. “You wake up one day and find that your bank account has been mistakenly credited with Ksh2 billion by KRA. You happen to know that the systems are such that you will not be found out but, in any case, you were planning to migrate to Australia where you have been admitted as a resident.”. Then came my question: Hands up if you would ask the bank to return the money to KRA? Not surprisingly, not many hands went up, and those that did were actually asking for some further clarifications before making up their minds. How easy would be to transfer Ksh2 billion between Kenya and Australia, asked one participant. It was an eye opener, and ample proof that as a country, and regardless of the position we hold in society, it is apparent that integrity is losing currency and corruption is winning.

Graft and all its various offshoots is a real cancer that has completely flows freely in our veins. However, my take is that as much as the problem is widespread and threatens to consume us as a society, this is just but a tip of the iceberg. We are investing all our energies chasing or even talking about those who have been caught with their dirty hands in the till but we forget to see long queue of those salivating and making a bee line for the till. We condemn those caught, often times not so much because of our deep convictions that they did something wrong but mainly because they have left us behind in the race to the bottom.

A great deal of conversation has been had about creating value based learning in our schools. A curriculum that teaches children that taking what is not yours is wrong. One that emphasises ethics and the building the whole person as opposed to just rote learning to pass exams. This may well be what we need to do but like my father once told me, what you do speaks so loud, I don’t hear what you say!

Why is this so? When you engage in corruption and then use the ‘loot’ to campaign for public office and actually win; when you engage in corruption in one Government department and, when you are found out, you are quietly transferred to another; when you engage in corruption and 20 years later your case has not been concluded but in the meantime you have become very charitable, giving huge wads of cash to churches; when you can sell the same land you grabbed at 2 or 3 times more and still walk the streets of Nairobi, and we call you ‘Mheshimiwa’ to boot; when Serikali admits there is corruption and promises to ‘roast’ the big fish but we never see any effort at lighting the fire, would it be considered inappropriate if the kids we teach this new curriculum tell the teachers to go tell it to the birds ?

Let’s be clear. Corruption exists all over the world and it’s certainly not a Kenyan phenomenon. What is increasingly Kenyan is illustrated by an apocryphal story often told of two friends, a Kenyan and a Malay who were both students in Harvard university. When they graduated, they both went back to their country and in a few years, they had both become PS for roads in their country. The Kenyan visited the Malay in Kuala Lumpur and his host met him at the airport with a Mercedes 600 and drove him to what was even better than our exclusive Muthaiga neighbourhood. When they were having a drink in the house, the Kenyan asked him how he could afford such luxury on a civil servant’s salary. The Malay took him to the window, opened the curtain and told the Kenyan: “You see that road?” There was a modern 12 lane dual carriage road that stretched to the distance. “That road, I got 10%” said the Malay.

The Malay visited the Kenyan counterpart 2 years later and he too had a Mercedes 600 and took him to his Karen residence. Over drinks the Malay also wondered how the Kenyan could afford those luxuries with a civil service salary. He took him to the window and told him ‘You see that road?”. The Malay retorted: “Which road?” On looking closer, he made out a path that was winding towards Ngong forest. The Kenyan continued, “That road, I got 100%”.

To deal with corruption in Kenya calls for two things which Kenyans can insist on having and which would go a long way in managing corruption. The first is investing heavily in Governance. We must build oversight institutions that ensure that mis-Governance is promptly identified and dealt with. This is what private sector does very well and would explain why in relative terms, there is less corruption in private sector compared to the public sector. To be fair, the new constitution, the Judiciary, the investigative arms have come a long way although there is still a long way to go.

The second and probably most important is ensuring there are prompt consequences for those who fail the governance test. This is where we fall flat on our faces. This is where even in the coming elections, we must insist on not having people with dubious backgrounds, who cannot explain their source of wealth and who have pending cases present themselves as candidates. This is where we must equip the courts to pronounce themselves with speed on corruption cases. Speedy or timely consequences is key in slaying this dragon and its within our reach. We just need to ensure that these institutions do their work and the courts, in this new dispensation, sets the pace in issuing judgements promptly.

The argument that we need more private sector people in Government has also been discredited because many of the people caught in the cookie jar have their roots in the private sector. We have all sinned and fallen short of expectations and the only remedy is strong governance and timely consequences regardless of whether you are black, brown, red or yellow.

To win the war though, leaders must lead from the front. Each of us must ensure there is strong governance in our sphere of influence. We must be our brother’s keeper.

Article first appeared in the Daily Nation