Posted Thursday, July 11 2013 at 21:17
When former Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua coined the slogan, ‘Najivunia Kuwa Mkenya, back in 2009 and sent stickers to anyone he thought to be of some influence, he was trying to sow in our breasts some sense of pride, patriotism and feeling of belonging.
In retrospect, Dr Mutua could not have been more mistaken; there is precious little to be proud of about this country. Indeed, it is increasingly becoming a trial to the spirit to be known as a Kenyan outside our borders.
It is not fair to be described as the fourth most corrupt person on earth. In fact it is downright cruel. But that is what Transparency International (TI) thinks of this country, and although one may argue that this is yet another Western plot to denigrate Africans, maybe, with a little introspection, we can detect the evidence all around us.
Just what does Transparency International say about us in this year’s report? Kenya, it avers, ranks fourth in the Global Corruption Barometer behind Sierra Leone, Liberia and Yemen, in that order.
One may have reason to quarrel with the methodology used by the international anti-graft watchdog during its research. One may even question the composition, identity and motivation of those polled. If, for instance, the majority belong to our “independent” non-governmental organisations which depend on donor money for survival, then the findings may be suspect.
It is even possible that TI uses a template upon which it inscribes what it imagines the rest of mankind wants to read. But how many people can, in all honesty, claim they have never perpetrated or fallen victim to acts of corruption? Why does this perception of endemic corruption persist year upon year? Why, indeed, should TI pick on us?
First, it is probably because no major corruption scandal has ever been successfully solved. Indeed, no single suspect of substance has ever been successfully prosecuted and penalised.
People suspected of stealing billions from public coffers in the so-called Goldenberg scandal have been enjoying their loot, making sporadic appearances in court, and eventually dying of lifestyle diseases without ever having spent a night in a police cell.
The same case with the Anglo Leasing series of crimes, the Triton oil scandal, the relief maize scandal, the free education cash scandal, and a few others which have been equally destructive of our economy, but not quite so sensational.
Graft is an industry whose maleficent effects are not confined to the highest achievers, though. When the word is mentioned, people’s imagination soar to the Goldenberg heights, yet the Sh100 bribe you offer a policeman to overlook your vehicle tyres which have lost all traction can be quite as destructive.
Indeed, innocent people may die should your brakes fail during an emergency, merely because the police officer preferred the bribe rather than doing his or her duty. And this is just one example.
Writing about corruption, grand or petty, can become a sleep-inducing activity. All of us Kenyans seem to be fast stuck in the mire from which we, apparently, can’t extricate ourselves. But I believe that one day, preferably in my lifetime, we shall find ways to tear ourselves away from the TI Index by making corruption very expensive for the perpetrators.
As a start, perhaps we should give the new government a chance to start fighting graft through the institutions set up by the 2012 Constitution for that very purpose. At the moment, it is totally distracted by fighting endless wars with our elected leaders who are obsessed with raiding the Treasury, itself an act of grand corruption.
Today we have a relatively clean Judiciary that may help in the war. Today, there seems to be a will to reform the Police Service, though the logistics are proving to be rather intractable. And today, we have anti-corruption agencies that can actually fight graft if only they were given the wherewithal.
But in the meantime, although I’m a patriot, the only thing I can confidently tell Governor Mutua is this: No, Sir, today I am not proud to be a Kenyan. At all!
amagesha@ke.nationmedia.com
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