By CPA Sylvia Karaba
The fight against corruption requires living with integrity and making ethical decisions in all aspects of our lives. This, however, seems to be a real struggle for us as a society. In the Kenyan context, corruption has become deeply entrenched and normalised in our national fabric, yet it is termed illegal. Surprisingly, Kenya is viewed as a deeply religious state and is also considered one of the top African countries for leadership training.
This statement from the Senior Counsel is a clear indication that we can indeed make the world a better place through our day-to-day actions. But this requires a mindset shift, especially in our generation, which is intentionally inward-focused. We have little or no thought of the impact of our actions, words or even intentions on others, known or unknown to us. Even those of us who ascribe to the good book, “… Love your neighbour as yourself”. We only apply this when we view ourselves as the neighbour in the circumstance. If we don’t get our way, we quickly invoke karma.
Now, let’s look at some examples we can all relate to as Kenyans. You get to a government office early, hoping to be served and to carry on with your day, especially those with a huge, welcoming billboard: “…This is a corruption-free zone”. Then, delay tactics play out, blamed on a myriad of reasons; the system is down, your file is missing, the documents are not ready, the machine is down, the signatory is away, and the list goes on and on.
However, unsolicited standby help is always hovering around in the form of on-site ‘brokers’ to lend a hand in exchange for ‘tea’. The tea can range from 50 shillings to millions or “sextortion” sexual favours, especially for women, depending on the service required. Based on your conviction, you decide to wait or quicken the process. Ultimately, there is always the opportunity cost to consider; at the decision point, your true north is put to test, ‘tea’ or no ‘tea’. If you are employed or run a business, the time spent waiting puts your income at risk, which leads to lost opportunities.
Another face of corruption that is maiming our country is nepotism, which creates unfair advantage for people who are associated with power. These persons can be family members or close friends without prerequisite qualifications. These people are given priority in exchange for a favour. This generally sets the scene for corruption, particularly in the public sector. The negative effect of nepotism is felt heavily within and outside the country. This has had extremely costly repercussions for the country, and no legal redress is sought since the responsible persons are ‘scared cows’ who are held accountable. What we never want to bring to light are the severe effects; public disillusionment, service delivery crisis, democratic regression, poverty, increased inequality and stunted economic growth, among others.
For context, let’s examine the micro implications of corruption in the medical service delivery space. We have watched in horror the inhumane treatment & medical negligence cases we see in our private and public hospitals. Failure to attend to patients due to lack of money “to open the file’, misdiagnosis, refusing to attend to mothers ready to give birth or botched surgeries. What follows includes, without limitation, loss of life, children with birth injuries, psychological issues, increased financial burden and life-altering injuries. This is the lowest we have stooped to as a country; we choose to strip others of their dignity in their most vulnerable circumstances.
Focusing the lens now on the private sector, sextortion is becoming a common means to an end in the private corporate sector, including the Jua Kali sector. We all have watched investigative series on TV on women’s sexual exploitation in the corporations, fishing, sports, mining, domestic work and agricultural work spaces. In some organisations, sex is the currency for hires and promotions as quid pro quo situations are laid out. The impact of these sexual violations is never understood by most of us; it’s the victims who have to bear the treacherous, lonely lifelong healing journeys. These victims suffer from lifelong diseases, broken marriages, societal stigmatization and out of these, the biggest blunt is borne by the children who generally lose out on education deepening poverty levels.
In another example in the private sector, we look at the impact of a toxic team leader. Because of their perceived power, leaders intimidate those reporting to them, except for the bootlickers. This results in workplace toxicity. The toxicity ripple effects are largely ignored, as we tend to have a siloed view of the affected individual alone. This is just like the examples above; it has far-reaching, detrimental effects on persons who are not known to the team leader. Marriages break down due to the workplace toxicity’s domino effect, and children feel the rejection from their parents due to the parental conflict emanating from the emotional withdrawal. Additionally, there are work-related suicides that result in orphans, widows and widowers’ status. To the larger society, there may be increased mental health crises (substance abuse, public health challenges, social erosion).
Continuing with the private sector, we have increasingly seen land-selling and financial investment schemes that have pretexts, out of which investors suffer significant financial losses. As the victims seek legal redress, along the way, we have casualties of depression, suicide and those who suffer the most are the dependents. We also cannot forget the now all too common brainwashing happening in our worship spaces. The congregants lose their hard-earned wealth and health in pursuit of miracles, children are stopped from learning, and there is a tragic loss of lives. Same script, those most affected are those unknown to these unarmed religious embezzlers. Parents are tortured, giving DNA samples to identify decayed bodies, caring for their distressed adult children (victims of these religious swindlers), parents developing medical complications as they watch their children waste away and the financial burden of parenting their grandchildren.
Lastly, we review how our individual actions at the home front affect those around us and beyond. Many families have land-related disputes, out of which some people are disinherited. We have seen widows and orphans being denied their inheritance, pushed out of their homes even before flowers on the graves of the departed dry up. Sadly, these hostilities are meted out by close family members. For most victims, these atrocities affect them for life. Some of the children/women end up in the streets, children’s homes or in relatives’ homes, who usually turn them into a labour force in their homes. Out of these displacements, we are born goons, prostitutes, thieves, and despondent persons. However, in rare instances, some of these children/women do find their paths to success, albeit with wounded hearts.
We must then, individually and collectively as Kenyans, retrospectively and retroactively reflect on what has gone wrong vis-à-vis our desired future. This proposition by Senior Counsel then comes alive with the uncomfortable question for us all: what is the impact of our actions on those known and unknown to us? This requires us to quit the blame game and take personal accountability for changing our country through multi-pronged collaboration between the political and private sectors.
The political weaponization of anti-corruption efforts should cease, as corruption cases arise or disappear depending on political alignment. This applies to individuals and corporate sector players as well, since they also significantly contribute to the corruption basket, even though they are the ones calling out the public sector on this vice. The proverbial idiom “The pot calling the kettle black” holds true for our country, and we must break free.
Conclusion
There is no silver bullet solution to the cancer of corruption. However, with individual resolve to be good trustees of others’ fate through your own conduct, we will conquer this vice and become a thriving society. As I sign out, here are two introspective reflection quotes: Leo Tolstoy, “Wrong does not cease to be wrong just because the majority shares in it.” John C. Maxwell, “Everything worthwhile is uphill”; as such, uphill goals cannot be supported by downhill behaviours and habits.
The author is a Leadership Enthusiast and Internal Audit, Risk Management and Compliance Consultant.
