Commentary & Analysis:Omar Ali
Corruption pays in Africa. And I am not referring to military and or despotic African governments but democratic ones such as Kenya, and many others. In fact corruption pays very well in Kenya.
The major reason why politicians, political leaders and government bureaucrats are not deterred from corrupt activities is the fact that they know history is always on their side.
There is no deterrent effect to stop the vice. In the other countries like the US things are completely different when it comes to corruption. Although there is corruption in the US, but I can tell you that corruption doesn’t pay America.
The major reason why politicians, political leaders and government bureaucrats are not deterred from corrupt activities is the fact that they know history is always on their side.
There is no deterrent effect to stop the vice. In the other countries like the US things are completely different when it comes to corruption. Although there is corruption in the US, but I can tell you that corruption doesn’t pay America.
There are several once very powerful congressmen now serving jail time after being convicted for corruption while in office. There is Duke Cunningham, Traficant and Nye to name but three.
In our beautiful country, you can look everywhere and you will see that crooked politicians and or public servants, are never caught and when they are caught, they use their ill-acquired wealth to hire top notch lawyers who are able to drag their court cases for years.
Hardly, if any has a politician or a senior civil servant has jailed on fraudulent conviction in Kenya. It is so sad that those who acquired wealth on corrupt manner — even on their everyday daylight robberies — in the end get the chance to legitimize the ill-acquired wealth.
The country has millionaires who acquired their wealth not because of their business acumen but by stealing from the pubic coffers.
It is against this backdrop that many budding politicians, no matter how clean they might be, end up being corrupted because it doesn’t pay not to be.
Take it further and we see that one is even considered a fool for not eating (stealing) from public coffers when he or she had the chance.
Look at the two first families; can anyone question how the Kenyattas and the Mois acquired such wealth that every sibling of the two families is now a millionaire if not a billionaire?
How did the Kenyatta own such track of land at the Coast? I can boldly say that it is because of the corruption culture in the country that it was difficult for us to have a "clean" let alone a "lean" Cabinet.
There are individuals from both sides of the political divide who will make up the Grand Coalition Government who are known to have been corrupt and acquired their wealth through stealing from the public coffers. This vicious circle will not end until Kenyans decide to change their attitudeS towards corruption.
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