Based on experience, the perception report released by EACC yesterday was hardly surprising if one considers the depth of sleaze the country finds itself in.
My diagnosis of this deplorable state is because we expect so much from our politicians and those working in the public sector.
I dare say the Kenyan society’s appetite for money from those occupying positions of influence is abnormal.
The incessant demand to give has fanned the kind of corruption that all of us appear to be ashamed of, but one which we are not willing to confront with the kind of resolve that will bring about change.
Our national psyche and the deeply entrenched value system have also provided a fertile ground for the vice to thrive in the manner it has over the years.
While the national cynicism is understandable, the war against corruption in Kenya is winnable.
But this is possible only if there is the will, the focus and determination for change.
We have to detribalise the war on corruption, abandon our highly entrenched value system of patronage and launch an ambitious grassroots campaign against corruption if we have to get out of the woods.
Our target should be the young people. The EACC should make them the focus of an accelerated national campaign through social change and education around corruption.
In this campaign, the concept of “rich” must also be redefined and clarity made that it matters a great deal how one becomes rich.
In involving our children, the EACC should focus on a curriculum designed to remind our young people about the dangers of corruption.
or without being rich.
We can draw lessons from presidents Julius Nyerere (Tanzania) and Nelson Mandela (South Africa), who were some of the happiest individuals we ever came to know, but they were never rich.
To have a clean government, we must have another look at the kind of pressure we subject our politicians and officers working in the public sector to on a daily basis.
Research, policy and organisational development expert spoke to the Star
