The year is 2030 and a crowd of
about a thousand is gathered outside parliament. The crowd had grown leaner by
the years as the country matured out of corruption and the memory of the
country’s financial promiscuity waned away. Fifteen years ago about a million
Kenyans made a human shield around the parliament building for three days straight.
Day and night these Kenyan change makers braved the tropical sun and chilling
nights for something they believed in. Once a spineless country in matters
corruption, we could no longer allow ourselves to tie the lambs of our public
coffers in the pens of our public offices with hyenas in coats of public
servants. They wanted change that could only start with a legislative amendment
to a deficient law. So parliament played host to a determined mass of humanity
that would not bend their morals to accommodate the fears of accountability of
a few.
The proverbial reference to
corruption as a cancer was an understatement in Kenya. Corruption was allowed
to devour our nation with impunity and absent of humane reasoning. So much so
that it was obvious to everyone and an accepted practice that each successive
regime had their rightful time to bleed the public coffers. Unlike natural rats
that nimble on someone while blowing on the wound, these were wild human sized
monstrous rats both in size and insatiable appetite for material wealth. Even though
our newly elected leaders at the time could be said to be above board in officially
sanctioned corruption. The same could not be said about the minions they
inherited from previous regimes. Deep rooted institutionalized corruption networks
that meandered alongside public revenue streams. Vultures with low hanging pot
bellies who hanged around the corridors of powers with no official duties but
with wings of influence wide enough to intimidate even the boldest of public
officials.
A time had come that the price of
corruption threatened a well planned and visible prosperous future. The prospect
of losing the long awaited walk into the first world by any individual or a
wayward culture was unacceptable. The country to a man wanted to slay the dragon
that was institutional corruption once and for all. It’s not like we as a nation
did not know exactly what needed to be done even to the last detail. It was for
lack of a better assessment, some sort of an ingrown disposition as a nation
not to act definitively to end corruption. An indifferent reaction to
widespread corruption, a perpetual state of postponement of known remedial
measures, almost as if we were scared of a corruption free nation. Our inertia mostly
fueled by our seemingly inseparable marriage to the only lifestyle we knew, so
blinded by our misplaced loyalty to our corrupt tribesmen.
Like explosive materials lying in
the open, so were the pent up aspirations of the majority of Kenyans. Just
waiting for a spark, a catalyst of inspiration to our combustible state of the
nation, to explode with purposeful action. Very few Kenyans witnessed the live
moment the spark went off, but everyone witnessed the explosion, many took part
in the explosion, whose embers were first witnessed on social media. When a targeted
campaign was launched on social media to rise and occupy parliament, with
written memoranda of exactly the demands the country clamored for in this fight
against corruption. It was hard to draw the line between the spontaneity of the
million man gathering outside parliament and a well choreographed social media
activism exercise. All this made complete by a wise legislature who quickly
wrote up a bill encompassing the whole memoranda of demands by the Kenyans picketing
outside parliament. Parliament was caught un-aware and was forced to play the
public tune and forced to make the legislative changes.
First in our demands was the
total restructuring of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). From a
traffic cop bursting institution to a president, cabinet secretary, governors
bursting institutions. This involved reinforcing EACC powers to investigate, giving
EACC the long demanded powers to prosecute and new demanded powers to freeze
and appropriate funds and assets of convicted corrupt individuals as well as
special corruption courts to expedite corruption cases. Further changes to EACC
were in its administration structure which called for the abolishment of the EACC
boss position. This was an overrated public office that was more of a coveted
highly entitled office than a functioning deterrent to corruption. This
corruption boss office was to be abolished and replaced with a committee. The 2
million plus remuneration for the EACC boss was sub-divided among the committee
members. As this was one of the many offices like the judicial service commission
that was meant to attract selfless public servants and not those after material
gains from public coffers. The committee was so structured as to have varying
tenures for different members, that it was a nightmare for the corrupt to have
that office in their pockets. This office was made up of the civil society, religious
leaders, media personalities and private accounting firms. This made it
impossible for a coordinated subversion of justice practices by members of the
committee amongst themselves.
Extended reforms demanded by
Kenyans when they occupied parliament was an integrated digitization of the financial
sector. This digital financial system modeled like the financial tracking system
of the American IRS documented and tracked every Kenyan financial transaction. From
Mpesa accounts to Kenyan and overseas bank accounts, the idea was to make it
impossible to move money around or accumulate unexplained monies in your name. This
was more elaborate for public servants, their families and during
investigations their acquaintances and business partners. Any sudden spike in
income of a public servant would trigger alarms in a dozen or so government agencies.
This allowed for stringent financial tracking that left corrupt individual with
no other option but to stack up hard cash in their homes or warehouses because
their was no way to move such money without attracting attention. This came in handy
during the prosecution of corrupt cases and seizure of assets and funds from
corrupt dealings.
This radicalization of the fight
against corruption was also taken to schools and classrooms. There was a push
for the introduction of a subject in school with a comprehensive coverage on
corruption and ethics. Not in the normal and polite academic lingo found in the
academic world but rather an intense psychological conditioning of our children
to loathe corruption. Corruption and unethical leadership was painted in such a
way to our children that it was guaranteed they would grow to abhor such
practices as much as murder or rape. Just as corruption had ingrained itself in
the fabric of our society, the only hope of reversing such a pervasive culture
was to hot wire it into our children psyche. The same way environmental
conservation tendencies such as a littering and separation of domestic waste
were imbued on a whole generation in the western society.
Other sectors to tow the line in
the anti corruption drive was the media. In realization of their role as the mirror
to a society and instrumental powers to influence the masses. The media fired
up the anti corruption crusade in earnest. From live coverage of anti corruption
cases, to in-depth investigative journalism, the media went as far as flashing
the faces of the corrupt all over the news. Together with their personal
details and history like schools they went to, previous jobs, just simply creating
pariahs out of them and a leprosy-like historical alienation of the corrupt
from society. Such was the heavy reinforcement of antipathy to corruption that
a renaissance of moral values and virtues took over our society.
And that is how the war on
corruption was won, through the powers to prosecute, the abolishing of the anti
corruption czar post, digital integrated financial systems and tracking,
education and coordinated mass media campaigns. And yes, not to mention the
total eradication of sitting and attendance allowances for public officials in
official duties and replaced with contentment with their salaries. No one should
have special rewards for doing the work they were appointed to do. They were
not doing the public any favors, it’s their job.
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