Corruption Mitigation In Kenya
By Anthony M. Wanjohi
Corruption is the
practice whereby some public money is illicitly diverted for private gain. This
practice is present to some degree in all societies. Corruption has been
identified as a major barrier to economic and social development in developing
countries, and considerable research as been done into the causes of and the
solutions to corruption in these countries. The wide spread of corruption in
developing countries has raised substantial concern. Developing countries,
particular circumstances rapid economic and social change, strong kinship and
ethnic ties, new institutions, overlapping and sometimes conflicting views
about what is proper public behavior appear to contribute to corruption's
saliency (Gould & Amaro-Reyes, 1983).
Throughout
Africa, bureaucrats and politicians promote perverse economic policies, while
impoverishing most of society; provide concentrated and significant benefits to
the national elites and interest groups. Corruption is known to be widespread in many African nations.
In countries such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, DRC, it has become a part of
everyday life. Indeed, those who refused to cooperate with corrupt officials
were barred from receiving government contracts. As a result, people found it
necessary to bribe public officials in order to carry on business. To date
corruption, is prominent in most of African nations, Kenya inclusive (Mbaku, 1996).
Before the year 1995,
any discussion of corruption in Kenya remained muted and almost
subversive. While many knew that corruption was endemic and was
rising at such a rate that it threatened to tear the entire socio-economic and
political fabric of society apart. It was imprudent, particularly for those in
official circles to openly discuss it (Kibwana,
1996). Everybody kept quiet and adopted the common adages that if you cannot
beat them join them. Consequently, corruption became a way of life.
The corrupt prospered and were rewarded with plum government appointments and
often received ululations in public for being perceived as development
conscious leaders. The few principled, incorruptible leaders became pariahs in
their own society, vilified, punished and often victims of punitive transfers
and sometimes wanton outright dismissals from their public jobs.
Corruption has permeated
every government sector. For instance, there is increasing interest among
policymakers, planners and donors in how corruption affects access to services
in the country and what can be done to combat corruption in the nation.
Despite this emphasis on the study of corruption in post-independence Africa,
there has been insufficient attention paid to the problem of corruption cleanup
and adoption of zero tolerance to corruption policies. Even where attempts have
been made, there has been lack of goodwill especially in the government of the
day.
Ades and Di Tella (1997) have tried to estimate the impact of
industrial policies and they found corruption to be higher in countries
pursuing an active industrial policy. They also found that corruption reduces
total investment, distorts its composition, and reduces the quality of a
country’s infrastructure. The combined impact of these changes on economic
growth is bound to be negative and substantial. Tanzi (1998)
explored and found that countries that are more corrupt tend to be poorer and
grow slower.
Corruption mitigation is
the procedures which can be used or when put in place can reduce the level of
corruption in the country. This section reviews some of the ways that if put in
place may reduce the increasing level of corruption in the country.
According to Balkaran (2002) one of the ways of curbing corruption
is by ensuring that there is an ethical environment. Management of a particular
place has the power and the responsibilities of fighting and preventing
corruption. In Kenya good co-operate governance, an appropriate tone from the
top that is from the head of the state to the poor individual down there in the
village. By ensuring that there is an ethical environment there will be fewer
chances for one to conduct corruption activities since all the citizens will feel
satisfied with what they have.
In any organization
where compensation is equitable, performance appraisals are frequent and fair,
and the general work environment is competitive and rewarding will provide less
opportunity and motivation for corruption (Balkaran,
2002). All Companies should maintain incentives by rewarding any defined goals
that are reached and also penalty incurred for subverting or circumventing
established controls. Auditors can contribute to this effort by ensuring that
incentives for ethical conduct are incorporated into work processes and that
these methods are effective.
The temptation of a
person to misuse the public power for his/her own private motives is a natural
result of their own self-interest. This temptation can be reduced by creating
an environment where corruption is difficult and does not pay. For Planners and
policy makers to be able to create such kind of an environment they need first
to be able to understand those environmental factors that influence corruption.
Some of the researches primarily carried out by the World Bank identified six
environmental factors that if looked into will help curb corruption. These
factors include:
This refers to how close
tax revenues are to their respective expenditures. If the source of the fund is
removed further from those who decided how the money will be allocated creates
a greater potential environment for corruption (Fisman and Gatti, 1999). For the government to be able to tap this
environment and reduce level of corruption they need to hold the tax base and
expenditures closer.
Accountability closely
relates to the proximity of revenue the only difference is that it is more
concerned with power than money. The main concept in this environment is that
if the one who makes decisions is closer to the voting public reduces the
potential for corrupt actions. Therefore the concerned bodies should use all
means possible to make sure that the elected people to certain offices should
be accountable to what they are chosen for and if they do not approve for their
actions the voting public is able to vote them out of the office. By carrying
out this practice the elected ones will be more accountable thus reducing the
level of corruption. The government should also ensure that there are no long
term contracts that lock in third parties for extended periods of time for this
may also increase the potential for corruption (Gratto,
Preston and Snilsberg, 2002).
This is the third factor
and it is one of the major factors that may contribute to curbing corruption.
This is in the sense that it identifies those who are currently engaging in
corrupt activities by carrying out audits, open budgeting processes or
contracting and bidding that is open to the public and the media. It also
creates an environment which is not that appealing to those tempted by
corruption. Since nobody wants to get caught while conducting this illegal
activities it creates an environment where the “lights are always on” making
those who might be tempted by corruption to think twice (Gratto,
Preston and Snilsberg, 2002).
Any information around
the world is of no significance unless citizens engage and act upon that
information. Participation, regardless of how well projected, is blind without
transparency. To truly mitigate corruption, municipalities need informed
participation and this comes from transparency. In addition to intuitively
making sense, research has shown that democracy (participation) is positively
correlated with reducing corruption internationally (Lipset and
Lenz in Harrison and Huntington, 2001).
2.6 Inequalities of
Power and Wealth
It is the fifth
environmental factor that may lead to corrupt activities. As the difference
between those who have and have-nots within a municipality increases there is a
penchant for those with money and power to not only hoard and increase their
shares, but also to strengthen their positions. Smelser (1971)
indicates that inequality increases the opportunities for corruption by through
crossing over. It occurs where those with power and wealth use one to gain the
other.
Robert Merton, (1968)
indicates that corruption is more widespread in those cultures that put a high
quality on monetary accomplishment or success but lack the means of attaining
the goals. Therefore individuals, policy planners should ensure that there is
no goal is drafted that has no proper finance for achieving it. Also
individuals should move from that culture of placing financial achievement as
the main success in life.
The government should
put internal finance management control mechanisms to ensure accountability of
public officers. Such mechanisms should ensure that all and more especially top
levels management must provide logical and acceptable explanations for their
actions and decisions to the people they serve. Those in responsible positions
must at all times adhere to the principles of transparency and be accountable
to the people they serve.
2.8 Donor Organizations
At a deeper level are
the policies that form the backbone to globalization. These policies are often
prescribed by international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF. For
years, they have received sharp criticism for exacerbating poverty through
policies such as Structural Adjustment, rapid deregulation and opening barriers
to trade before poorer countries are economic ready to do so (Hawley, 2000).
This has also created situations ripe for corruption to flourish. Thus greater
transparency of the processes of these institutions is called for in order to
allow greater visibility for elected officials and organizations in recipient
countries.
Corruption is one of the
main factors that hinder the development growth of countries especially the
developing countries. Literature on both the causes and consequences of
corruption is voluminous. There is a substantial body of evidence that
corruption has serious costs on both economy in terms of slowing growth and
increasing inequality as well as its effects on democracy in terms of
decreasing government effectiveness; stability and political legitimacy (Tavits, 2005). Therefore it is a high time that the country
should take further steps in curbing the situation of corruption.
Balkaran L.
(2002). Curbing corruption. Retrieved
on December 15, 2010 from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4153/is_1_59/ai_82804406/
Fisman, Raymond & Gatti,
Roberta. “Decentralization
and Corruption: Cross Country and CrossStateEvidence.”1999.http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/eap/eap.nsf/Attachments/deccorr3/$File/deccorr3.pdf
Gould, DJ & Amaro-Reyes, JA (1983), The Effects
of Corruption on Administrative Performance Illustrations from Developing
Countries. World Bank Staff Working Paper no. 580.
<http://www-wds.worldbank.org>
Gratto A., Preston B. and Snilsberg T. (2002). Mitigating Corruption
in New Public Management. Retrieved on January 19, 2011 from
http://government.cce.cornell.edu/doc/pdf/corruption.pdf
Lipset, Seymour M. & Lenz, Salman. (2001) “Corruption,
Culture, and Markets” in Harrison, Lawrence (editor) and
Huntington, Samuel (editor). Culture Matters: How Values
Shape Human Progress. New York, Basic Books..
Merton, R., K.,
(1968). Social Theory and Social Structure. New
York: The Free Press Merton’s work is a classic of modern sociology.
Smelser,
Neil, J. (1971). “Stability, Instability, and the
Analysis of Political Corruption.” Instability
and Social Change, edited by Barber, Bernard, and Inkles, Alex. Little, Brown and Company. Boston.
Suggestd Citation in APA
Wanjohi, A.M.
(2011). Corruption Mitigation in Kenya. KENPRO Publications.Available on http://www.kenpro.org/papers/corruption-mitigation-in-kenya.htm
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