The Corruption Virus: the more the laws the more the corruption!

The corruption virus: The more the laws the more the corruption!

The article by Ruth Mbula in the February 10^th Sunday Nation suggests that part of Cabinet CS Fred Matiangi core brief is to fight corruption in the country. Many other leaders have not achieved any significant results in this battle. While the celebrated CS has earned high marks in education reforms, the public will be keen to receive tangible relief from official extortion to not only alleviate poverty, but to accelerate economic production. Nonetheless, the frustrating fixation on corruption should not be a personal agenda, it is institutional. Corruption is generated from the very laws the government puts in place to curb it. The more the laws the more corruption grows. Allow me to illustrate this with an interesting story found in ancient scripture.  

God gave Moses Ten Commandments. The religious leaders took these ten simple laws and converted them into five books. Years later Jesus the Christ would drive out corrupt officials who had converted the Temple of worship into a den of thieves. The religious leaders had taken the simple act of worship and made it into a corrupt money making scam by enforcing a complex detailed set of nefarious laws to extort money from hapless believers. The temple officials used the institutional power and privilege they had to create laws that imposed punitive taxes and burdens on the public.

This colonial strategy to fleece the common man is replicated in our public service institutions and parliamentary process. The simple act of driving a vehicle on the Kenyan roads is infringed upon by no less than five different national institution; KRA, NTSA, TLB, INSURANCE, INSPECTION, POLICE including the ADMINISTRATION police! The process of registering a business takes six months to a year!  Our legal experts recently created 47 governments out of one nation. Parliamentarians raise their own salaries through commissions and parliamentary bills- all through legal institutions! The abundance of laws or legality does not guarantee justice. However, the abundance of laws does create conflict, confusion, collusion, corruption and multiple avenues for the corruption virus to flourish.

Dear Dr. Fred Matiangi, your performance in the battle to free the soul of Kenyan entrepreneurship will not be evaluated by the number of corrupt officers you sack or the number of people you take to court on charges of corruption. Your national service will be appraised by the number of superfluous legal institutions you shut down and the measures you put in place to empower Kenyan citizens to freely participate in rewarding, vibrant, ethical socio-economic enterprise in our country.

Allan Bukusi

Leadership Consultant & Author