• Corruption is rife at the workplace, with perpetrators citing delayed or low salaries
• This calls for closer supervision and factoring in of employee welfare when hiring
With elections in less than a year, there is renewed focus on integrity in the performance of one’s assigned duties.
The spotlight is on politicians and whether they have lived up to the ideals of the Constitution. However, how many employees can confidently say they practise integrity at the workplace?
Integrity as variously defined includes the qualities of honesty, ethical conduct and morality. An employee with integrity will be guided by those qualities even when nobody is watching. Do Kenyans at their places of work subscribe to the same standards they demand of political leaders?
From company drivers siphoning off fuel to those selling engine parts. From procurement staff getting commissions from suppliers to administrative officers selling company stationery, corruption is most certainly rife at the workplace. Not forgetting human resource employees demanding bribes for jobs and promotions.
'KUJILIPA' EXCUSE
"I pay myself," David Mwangi, an employee of a grocery store, confesses. David says his employer doesn’t pay him as agreed and that’s why he keeps part of each day’s sales. “I keep Sh200 to Sh300 then give her the rest,” David says. What if the day’s sales don’t exceed that amount? “I keep everything,” he says with a smile.
On the highway between Mombasa and the rest of the country, truck drivers carry fare-paying passengers for a fee despite warnings from their employers. Sometimes, they carry goods, too. Transporters don't like it when their vehicles are used as matatus because it exposes the truck and its cargo to highway robbers.
A truck driver who did not wish to be named explained that they break the rules to boost their incomes. "Our salaries are low, yet while on the road we spend a lot of money on accommodation and bribing the police. How can I survive on a salary of Sh15,000 a month? I have to look for more money on the road,” he said.
'Kujilipa' (paying themselves). That’s a typical excuse given by employees engaging in fraudulent activities. Crooked employees rationalise their behaviour because they believe they are worth much more to their employer than their official pay. On the other hand, it is true some bosses delay salaries or cut employee salaries, which may encourage theft of company resources.
RICH ALSO STEAL
It is not only lowly paid workers who are engaging in fraud. Highly paid employees in government and private sector have also been implicated in the vice.
Employees of banks and mobile phone companies have been caught stealing from customer accounts. Several former high-ranking government officials are currently facing trial for mismanaging public funds. Lawyers, too, have been implicated in fraud involving their client’s property.
All these cases give rise to this question: Are there honest employees left in Kenya? How do employers find honest employees?
Employers, too, have a role to play in nurturing a work environment that discourages fraudulent behaviour. This means closely supervising employees and closing off all loopholes for fraud. Employee welfare is important, too. Pay your workers as agreed, allow reasonable breaks away from work and the work should be within the maximum hours set out in law.