I have to agree corruption has impacted negatively on the economy. When billions of Shillings allocated for development go to a few pockets then we see a lot of suffering. This translates to poor infrastructure, lack of jobs, which hits me directly as a young person. The level of illiteracy remains high, and the country sinks further and further into debt, such that we have a country of, “…10 millionaires and 10 million beggars.” if I may quote the late J. M Kariuki (a political figure in Kenya in the 70s).
At the end of the day however the corruption that affects us directly is the corruption perpetrated by individuals on a day-to-day basis on a small scale. This is what causes lots of harm in the long run. When we agree to bribe a police officer to let our faulty vehicle on the road, the accident that results has a more direct impact on us. When we accept a bribe and give a contract to a quack so as to spend less money on a project that is also disastrous. To illustrate how one act of corruption can affect a life, here is my story.
I had just finished my Kenya Certificate of Primary School Education, and emerged the best girl in the District. Automatically I was entitled to a bursary because of my brilliant performance. I did not expect the rude shock I received when I visited the District educations office. He looked at my mother blankly in the face and said: “Your daughter will not receive the bursary because she is not Pokot. (I belong to a different tribe).” This was despite the fact that I had been raised in that area. All over sudden they had realized I was not a Pokot. They asked for a bribe from my mother, but the poor woman could barely afford to pay her house rent. Apparently, the awarding was not being done on merit but rather on what you could give in return. But my guess is that some individuals were simply using the tribe excuse to benefit from the fund.
That was ten years ago but I have never forgotten. Because of that one act of corruption I had to go through high school in great difficulty that I almost dropped out of school due to lack of school fees. Due to the difficulty, I was not able to get the grades I needed to study a particular course at the university. I ended up with a course I had not planned to do.
After finishing the University I started looking for a job. But it seems that wherever I went, the ugly face of corruption kept rearing its head. At one office I was asked to give cash while at another the boss asked for sexual favors. If that is not corruption I wonder what is. The saddest bit is that thousands of young people continue suffering in silence.
Action has to be taken on those stealing from public coffers, and there is no doubt about that, but should we stop there? I am a firm believer in the phrase: “It all begins with you.”
Someone might be quick to point out that even though one does not participate in deeds of corruption, they end up being victims of the acts of the same by others. This is true, but what if all of us shared the same mentality, there would not be ‘others’ committing such acts would there be?
A Chinese Proverb states that a journey of one thousand miles begins with one step. That is the take I have on the eradication of corruption. This is a vice that affects each and every one of us. However it does no good pointing fingers at the people in authority as being perpetrators of the vice. We should begin with ourselves. The little deeds (or so we think) of corruption we commit go a long way in spreading it. Corruption has what I like to call the butterfly effect. No matter how light the flutter of the wing is it helps the butterfly to fly. This is the same with corruption. But the reverse is also true. The single deed of honesty we do goes equally a long way in countering the effects of corruption.
I know that for the war on corruption to be won, it has to begin with individuals. For instance, when I take it upon myself to live an honest life and refuse to abet deeds of corruption and another one does the same, who says that our one thousand mile journey will not be completed?
I can give a scenario on how we perpetuate small deeds of corruption; there is a long queue of people waiting to board a matatu (a form of transport). People have been there for a while, and evidently they cannot wait for their turn to get into one and go home. Then one person comes from nowhere, spots a friend on the queue and goes to say ‘hi’. The ‘hi’ is in quotes because the real intention of this person is to jump the queue and get in before everyone else. Having seen that, it is expected that people will complain and get that person removed from the queue, but not at all, they keep quiet because they know tomorrow they will want to jump the queue. Ironically, just a few minutes later one might hear people complaining about the level of corruption among our leaders.
It is ironical, is it not? That these people can see the corruption others are committing but not their own, or is it because theirs is ‘a little’ corruption?
As far as I am concerned we do not have a lot and little corruption. According to The Macmillan English dictionary, Corruption is dishonest or illegal behavior by officials or people in position of power, especially when they accept money in exchange for doing things for someone. While The Concise Oxford English dictionary says that corruption is the willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. I would rather go with the latter definition since it reflects what happens in our day-to-day life, that people are willing to act dishonestly for their own gain but when others do the same they are very quick to cry foul at the top of their voices.
It is the same people that are elected or appointed to positions of authority. How do we expect them to change? Quoting from the greatest teacher whoever lived, Jesus: “Whoever is faithful in little, shall be faithful in much” So how can we expect those unfaithful in little to be faithful in much?
If the same people decided that nobody jumps the queue and they alert the matatu officials, that person will be removed from the queue and most probably they will not try that again. Furthermore, if there were people who had the same tendencies in the queue it is unlikely that they will do the same for fear of being told off, and this way will be the first step of progress, albeit slowly.
I do not have any position of power neither do I have a lot of money, in fact my area chief does not even know I exist, in other words I have no clout at all. Does this mean that there is nothing I can do about corruption? On the contrary, there is so much I can do.
When I refuse to jump queues in a bank or a bus station and tell off the ones who do, when I refuse to give bribes to people in authority to gain favors, when I conduct myself honestly in all I do, I know I am doing a lot of things to curb corruption. I will not keep quiet in the face of corruption because, silence is its best friend. However I will not carry placards to demonstrate against corrupt individuals, without looking at myself first since it is said that my actions will speak louder than words.
When each of us plays their role in the society, in order that we have more honest people around, then corruption is going to be a thing of the past. But until then, just like we are still fighting Malaria in our country with the hope that it is going to be history soon, we will go on fighting corruption with whatever weapon we deem fit.
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