CORRUPTION

 

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Corruption is the act of taking advantage of others by giving bribes and in some circumstances, it is the receiving of bribes. A bribe is an incentive given so as to influence someone’s judgement. The issue of corruption is something that has been affecting the citizens of a country because the powerful and the rich are the ones benefiting from it. There are different causes of corruption. One of them is weak institutions, an institution is regarded either weak or strong according to the type of leadership that is in the institution. If the one in charge has poor leadership skills, then the employees will not be doing their work well and may even be corrupt because no one is there to warn them or fire them. Another cause is inadequate accountability mechanisms such as lack of oversight by the authorities in charge. This will fail to hold people accountable for their actions, hence causing corruption.

There are different types of corruption, one is the one that is carried out every day by citizens who are looking for employment. For example, if one is applying for work at a certain place and has met the requirements then another who has money but has not met the requirements is applying for the same work. In most circumstances the one with money will get the job because they will just bribe their way in. This causes unfairness and will also be disadvantageous to the employer as the work will not be done as required since he was never qualified in the first place. Another type is the grand corruption that is committed by the leaders who are elected by the citizens to serve them. An instance is a governor giving out tenders to people who do not deserve them or stealing money that was budgeted for the development of the county for their own use. Those who will be found doing this will face penalties for breaching the code.[1]

From the practice of corruption there are effects which will be present. To begin with, it will hinder development and destroy public trust. Development will not be possible in an area where corruption is at large as investors will fear funds being stolen. We also have the damage of one’s reputation or damage of a company’s reputation. Once people find out that a certain company is corrupt it will immediately flop, and its reputation will go down with it. A real-life case of corruption is that one of Siemens which is a company in Germany. Siemens was involved in a bribery scheme as it was paying off government officials. This ruined Siemens reputation as its image was tarnished and Siemen also faced legal challenges as some of its executives were sentenced to prison. The scandal exposed corruption within multiple companies.

There is an index known as the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which helps by ranking countries according to their corruption levels. Most countries have a score of below fifty which means that they are facing corruption challenges. The most corrupt country in the world with a score of twelve is Somalia and the least corrupt country in the world with a score of ninety is Denmark followed closely by Finland which has a score of eighty seven.[2]

Due to corruption being a menace to society there are anti-corruption measures and policies that have been formed so as to combat it. First is the use of whistle blower protection. With the protection of whistle blowers, that is the people who identify corrupt individuals they will be able to do their work more effectively without fear of getting hurt in the process. Furthermore, we have legal reforms that will help a country move forward. This will show the citizens that the government does not take the issue very lightly and there will be consequences if one is found which will make the citizens refrain from the practice. Lastly, we have international cooperation, addressing corruption as different countries in the world will contribute to achieving broader development objectives.

From the foregoing, corruption is a major issue affecting different countries in the world. It was there in the past and it will also be there in the future unless the citizens work together and put a stop to this once and for all.

 By Denzel Kiiru

 


[1] Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012.

[2] Corruption Perceptions Index report 2022.

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

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