In Africa, corruption by the people in high powers seems to be a thing of a norm. Many years since the end of colonisation of the last country in Africa and the Scrabble for Africa, the Africans are still colonised and enslaved and this time by their own kind; fellow Africans. Most of African countries are said to be democratic but what is democracy if the people who vote are looted by the very people they put in power- the people they have entrusted with their well-being? A study in 2002 by African Union (AU), estimated that the continent loses approximately $150 billion of its revenues to corruption annually.
Politics have always been said to be dirty games but this couldn't be far from the truth when observing what most political figures and government officials are dishing out to their fellow men. During campaigns and rallies, the candidates usually make lots of promises (most of them unrealistic) to the citizens of their countries and once they are voted into power, they start to load their pockets with ill-gotten riches, forgetting all about their voters and only to remember them when their tenures come to end and they start to lobby for votes from them. Most of them are driven by greed and poverty to exploit their countrymen. They want to enrich themselves before they can concentrate on the interest of the people. Corruption is a transgression against the development of the continent as it hampers the much needed progress of the Mother continent. What makes this issue even more absurd is the fact that most of the perpetrators are usually granted impunity from the law.
As long as corruption is allowed to flourish, the line between the rich and poor will continue to widen. According to World Bank, Development Research Group, in 2011, Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.25* a day stood at 46.8% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa whilst in Middle East & North Africa it was 1.7% of the population.
The Transparency International organisation released its Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 which measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 177 countries and this is how African two territories performed:
Sub-Saharan Africa
- 90% score below 50
- Top (least corrupt): Botswana
- Bottom (most corrupt): Somalia
Middle East & North Africa
- 84% score below 50
- Top (least corrupt): United Arab Emirates
- Bottom (most corrupt): Sudan
Forms of corruption includes but not limited to the following:
- Money laundering;
- Obtaining of money by false pretences;
- Siphoning of government monies;
- Tax evasion;
- Stealing public assets (embezzlement) – the culprits usually maintain offshore accounts to hide their ill-gotten gains;
- Use of personal connections to gain favours or illicit enrichment;
- Offering, soliciting accepting or exchange of gifts for illegitimate private rewards/profit;
- Nepotism;
- Bribery and extortion.
The blame game
As much as we are to feel sympathetic to the citizens of these certain countries, it still need to be pointed out that most of the times, they are the ones who are digging their own grave and at the same time filling it up with sand whilst occupying it. Most Africans vote not for what a man stands for but for who he is and in the end failing themselves dismally. Africans possess a characteristic that is unique to them; the respect of the past. This attribute is their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. The sins or virtuousness of one’s ancestors can make or break one’s chance of leadership. Yes, ancestors can actually pay it forward for their descendants. This means one can simply be voted or put to power because of the good of one of their ancestors did for their tribe or the nation at large or s/he can suffer from their ancestral transgressions.
Africans should be educated on the strength and immense power of their votes. They should be taught to know that with their votes, they are casting their future: education, judiciary, public health, democracy, and progression among other things and as such, they need to retrospect before voting for their representatives. A man/woman without personal moral to abide by will surely lack it even as a policymaker – if a man violates and abuses his wife, can he advocate for women’s rights as a lawmaker?
It is time to stop those who get away with acts of corruption. The legal loopholes and lack of political will in government facilitate both domestic and cross-border corruption, and call for our intensified efforts to combat the impunity of the corrupt.”
– Huguette Labelle, Chair, Transparency International
No country is immune to corruption but is how it acts against it that counts as the poorest and the most vulnerable citizens are the one affected by it whilst the rich benefit from it. The powerful, with their lack moral fibre, and the least powerful (in their ill-informed votes) are each taking a step towards this irrevocable, deep abyss which in the end will consume the economic growth of the continent as large. This kind of behaviour needs to be condemned and uprooted whence it is born. Governments should be urged to exercise a vast plethora of total control of the people’s funds with accountability and transparency at all times. People should demand accountability from their leaders.
A question that should linger on our minds is, does too much power make one forget the value of setho/ubuntu?
*Percentage of the population living on less than $1.25 a day at 2005 international prices - World Bank
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