By Fredrick Mainda
Majority of Kenyans are likely to blame a public officer whenever corruption is brought up in a public discourse. This may be attributed to immense obligations and expectations placed on public and state officers by the legal instruments in the fight against corruption.
Whereas public officers bear the greatest responsibility in promoting integrity not only in public service but also in society, one may argue, has caused a negative effect on the general public who are seen as inconsequential in graft fight. The Constitution and other legal instruments have placed a civic duty on the public to report corruption, collaborate, present themselves as witnesses and blow the whistle against vice.
However, the apathy witnessed from the public in advocating for these roles validate the findings of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s National Ethics and Corruption Survey (NECS), 2018, which shows 67% of the respondents did nothing to prevent corruption and unethical conduct, which is quite disheartening. It is disturbing, particularly as we prepare for the forthcoming General Election.
All stakeholders in the governance and the anti-corruption sector should anticipate and expect that politicians will influence the voters through bribery, after which, the same public will complain of bad and corrupt leadership. From the forgoing, the proverbial “eat and vote wisely” should be condemned in the strongest terms possible. The right to vote is protected by the Constitution, and it will continue to be so simply because Kenya is a constitutional democracy.
Bizarrely, members of the public are sometimes accustomed to bribery to get services which should be absolutely free. It is equally shameful, but also shocking when Kenyans confide that during recruitment into the Kenya National Police Service, Kenya Prisons Service and the Kenya Defense Forces, individuals pay hefty bribes to get recruited. This, besides trashing meritocracy, also indoctrinates the new and innocent recruits in the belief that corruption is beneficial and should be perpetuated. Therefore, the pertinent question is, who perpetuates the vicious cycle of corruption in society?
In the corruption chain, there exist instigators, planners, executors and facilitators. When the public is perceived as partakers of corruption, they assume the role of facilitators. We as a society are all under the law. That is why we need to wake up to the reality that we have a civic duty to play in enhancing good governance. This role is in most cases relegated to the periphery and left to the state and public officers.
As we prepare for the forthcoming elections and a new dispensation, we need to know that good governance can only be realized through the sovereign power of the people of Kenya as enshrined in Article 1(1) of the Constitution – sovereign power belongs to the people and shall be exercised in accordance with the Constitution. (
— The writer is Human Resource Management expert and governance commentator
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