One of the greatest maladies afflicting the Kenyan society is corruption. Every passing minute, a Kenyan–be it a policeman, civil servant or a member of the public–is either receiving or giving a bribe to make ends meet or in return for a favour.
It is also an undeniable fact that the reinvigorated war on graft spearheaded by President Uhuru Kenyatta has slowed down the vice but not eradicated it. Perhaps it is in realisation to this that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is now rooting for a value-based education system to help tackle increased cases of graft.
Citing a 2018 report which indicated corruption incidences increased from 38.9 per cent in 2017 to 41.8 per cent in 2018, EACC is calling for reforms in the education sector as part of wide-ranging measures towards tackling graft.
It points out that the increase in graft was a pointer to the deterioration of ethics among Kenyans. I wish to commend EACC for engaging in sponsorship of special category in music and drama festivals in schools and colleges to promote integrity. But as a country, we must move a step further by preparing the minds of our young ones to shun corruption from an early age.
The goal is to establish a social value system that stigmatises instead of celebrating corruption. We must draw lessons from former President Mwai Kibaki who was elected on a platform of zero tolerance to corruption; he may have failed to win the war though he had the goodwill of the majority of Kenyans.
To successfully minimise the vice, there is a need for a multi-disciplinary think tank comprising intellectuals and practitioners from various fields to formulate new policies, legal and institutional frameworks for combating it.
Farmers Party leader
