MARKETING AFRICA MAL 18/17 mal 18:17 online | Page 54
whenever governors who belong to
Opposition parties are fingered in
corrupt deals.
The message is simple, “Corruption
is bad so long as someone else is
involved. But when it is one of our
own, we should not lift a finger.”
Besides, we have not yet touched
on public wastage both in National
and County Government. And
when someone is identified with
corruption, or poor use of public
funds, s/he gets ready defenders in
the ethnic community.
The defence may be from the tribe
– if the issue is happening at the
National level – or the clan, when
the matters are at the County level.
Corruption is, accordingly, alive
and well in our country. If you have
what is considered to be “a good
job,” in government and even in the
Private Sector, you are considered
to be “a fool” if you do not steal by
virtue of your office. “You have no
brains.
” It is, therefore, almost something
of a shock when someone asks us
to address a gathering such as this
on making public money count and
seeking accountability in public
finance.
Where does this malady begin?
How could we possibly arrest
it and bring it to an end? How
do we begin being accountable
to ourselves? These are the
fundamental questions before us.
To answer them, we need to reflect
on our philosophy of government
and why people vehemently seek
to go into government. In the end,
it boils down to our attitude and
beliefs about public finance, public
procurement and public audit.
Public Finance, Procurement And
Audit As Political Incentives
Corruption in government in
Kenya gravitates around the three
52 MAL 18/17 ISSUE
‘‘ Professionals must
take the lead. They
must not only offer
themselves for political
competition, they must
also speak out through
their professional
bodies on the need
for accountable
leadership. Beyond
this, they must
participate in educating
the larger public on
accountability and on
the cancerous lie that
is tribal politics. They
must consciously strive
to influence political
trends and outcomes.
They must come out
to vote and ask others
to come out and vote,
too.’’
disciplines of public finance, public
procurement and public audit. If
you can capture and take hostage
of the three functions and soundly
have them under your armpit, you
can steal from public coffers with
untrammelled impunity.
Charles Hornsby has discussed
this phenomenon in Kenya in his
great work titled Kenya, A History
Of 50 Years Since Independence.
Under the heading “Corruption
and Prebendalism” Hornsby recalls
how in the 1980s the Kenyan
economy was booming. “The State
had control over large and valuable
assets,” he says.
Hornsby observes that, regrettably,
most of these assets were left
“vulnerable to exploitation by those
holding the levers of political power.”
Hornsby observes further, “Access
to the resources that the State
commanded and the ability to direct
them for personal gain and political
purposes was in fact a fundamental
driver for competitive politics.”
This is the essence of prebendalism.
Those who occupy powerful
political office consider the
opportunity for misappropriation
of public funds to be part of their
legitimate entitlement and benefits.
The public, too, seems to quietly
agree with them that this is their
entitlement.
You, therefore, occupy public office
not so that you can serve, but so
that you can become rich. This
is Kenya’s present philosophy of
government. Even the daily Press
describes government ministries
in terms of “lucrative” and “non-
lucrative” ministries. The question
that is not asked is, “Lucrative to
whom, and for what purpose?”
Corruption is hence a benefit of
being in power. The instruments
and institutions of public
accountability may be well in
place. Those in power want to
remain there so that they can
continue to reap this benefit.
Those outside want to get in so
that they can take over, thus the
notion of “It’s our turn to eat.”
You are unhappy not because the
people in power are corrupt, but
because you are not part of the
eating team. That is why in Kenya
we have heard it said, “We are
stuffing ourselves with juicy meats
while you only look on and drool.”
In the European Medieval Age
(5th to 15th Centuries AD),