“Does it ever worry us that history which neither personal wealth nor power can pre-empt will pass terrible judgement on us; pronounce anathema on our names when we have passed? We have lost the twentieth century; are we bent on seeing that our children also lose the twenty-first?”
Those are the words of Prof. Chinua Achebe, the late literary icon and author of the world-famous ‘THINGS FALL APART’ that accurately mirrors the decline in standards and morals which have befallen African societies. As Prof. Achebe rightly said, history is not on our side any longer because everything has fallen apart and it is essential for Africa to set her house in order, and be rid of the menace called corruption, which smothers her growth and development.
AN INSIGHT INTO CORRUPTION: Corruption generally refers to the act of being fraudulent or dishonest, often involving the act of bribery. According to the Merriam Webster’s dictionary, corruption refers to an impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle. The global anti-corruption body, Transparency International (TI), through its corruption perception index (CPI) defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, in public and private sectors. While the first two definitions of corruption are acceptable, TI’s description of corruption appears broad and embraces the aspect of governance. Corruption is universal and cuts across every sector of the global society. All societies of the world, developed and underdeveloped alike, are plagued with stories of widespread mismanagement, racketeering, tax evasion, bribery, extortion and other vices. Phillippa Lewis in an article he wrote for the Think Africa Press opines that: “corruption is by no means a uniquely African phenomenon. In fact, taking a closer look at corruption and expanding our understanding to beyond just bribes and kickbacks enables us to see that corruption exists across the world and that even in ‘African’ corruption, developed countries are deeply implicated.” Transparency International’s corruption perception index shows that 70 per cent of all countries scored less than the 50 out of 100, with a global average of 43. Hence, corruption is not a problem typical of African societies only, but a nuisance that still troubles most of the world. Examples of this abound, and are well documented.
However, despite the prevalence of corruption in various regions around the world, some have been more proactive than others in the fight against it. Sadly though, the battle against corruption in Africa has been no more than a ‘fistfight’ whereas other regions have employed their whole ammunition in fighting the scourge. The situation in Africa is sickening. Corruption in Africa is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabric of the society, beginning from those who parade themselves as leaders, who in reality act like rulers, to the citizens themselves who engage in various forms of bribery, nepotism, impropriety and so on; perhaps worse the rulers themselves do. The Transparency International’s 2010 corruption perception index released in October 2010 identified Africa as the most corrupt region in the world. Its 2012 CPI also ranked 90 per cent of African countries as scoring below 50 (on a scale of 0-100, 0 being ‘highly corrupt’ and 100 representing lack of corruption); Somalia was deemed to be the worst offending African country with a score of just 8, along with Afghanistan and North Korea. Experts refer to corruption in Africa as systemic. Corruption is dominant across all sectors of society, be it religious, social, economic or political, and involves all social classes. It is reflected in the policeman who demands bribes (even from criminals), the professor who falsifies students’ results, the religious leader who cannot keep his eye off the treasury, the parent who purchases certificate for his or her child, the politician who has public funds stashed away in faraway Switzerland and so on.
WHY IS CORRUPTION SO WIDESPREAD IN AFRICA?
The prevalence of corruption in Africa has led both Africans and foreigners to ask questions that need an answer: Why is corruption so widespread in Africa and amongst Africans?
Walter Rodney in his thought provoking book “HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA” offered unique insight in solving this puzzle. He suggested that most of the corrupt practices exhibited by African leaders are encouraged by the West; often times through their corporations who offer African leaders inducements to acquire the rights to exploit the resources available in their countries at bizarrely low prices to the detriment of Africans. Other experts have however disagreed with Rodney’s suggestions. Many have suggested (while not totally absolving foreign corporations of their role in encouraging corruption through kickbacks) that the real cause of corruption is lack of patriotism. Their reasoning is that leaders like the great Nelson Mandela who show a deep love and respect for their country would find it hard to sell out their country. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that decades of wars, ethnic unrest, famine and destruction have left many Africans poor and economically incapacitated (estimates suggest that 80 per cent of Africans live on less than $2 per day) which has left them with no other option than to engage in corrupt practices. In other words, the deep-rooted cause of corruption is poverty. Many economists have suggested that reduction in poverty could lead to reduction in levels of corruption.
The negative impact of corruption in Africa is overwhelmingly devastating. Apart from the pervasiveness of absolute poverty in the region, the negative effect of corruption on the social, political, psychological, and economic aspect of Africa is represented by poor infrastructure, capital and intellectual flight, high unemployment rates, low levels of literacy, high crime rates, lack of or insufficient power and low levels of productivity. Not precluding high infant and maternal mortality rates (D.R Congo ranks as the worst country to be a mother in, according to ‘Save the Children’), poor health facilities and reduced rates of life expectancy, near or complete erosion of the value system, missed opportunities for advancement and many more. According to a study carried out by the African Union a few years ago, corruption was estimated to cost the continent roughly 150 billion dollars per year. Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan, while speaking recently on the BBC’s Newsday programme echoed the crushing impact corruption has on Africa and Africans through loss in government revenue. In his words: “We are not getting the revenues we deserve often because of either corrupt practices, transfer pricing, tax evasion and all sort of activities that deprive us of our due.” He further explains, “Africa loses twice as much money through these loopholes as it gets from donors.” Summing up the impact of corruption on Africa, he states, “…it affects the life of women and children- in effect in some situations it is like taking food off the table for the poor.” Since Africa finds herself in this regretful situation, can anything be done to remedy it?
FIGHTING CORRUPTION: In the fight against corruption in Africa, not all hope is lost as long as we exhibit the needed courage and enthusiasm to fight it. For Africa to overcome the menace of corruption, Africans need to act! There is a need for us to be more proactive than reactive in our efforts. This fight against corruption in Africa is not new. Over time, African leaders have often pledged to annihilate the scourge of corruption but have often lacked the will and courage to follow through with their promises. Corruption in Africa can be annihilated completely in many ways. Most of these processes are ‘tried and tested’ and have been employed by developed nations in their own fights. They range from preventive methods like standardised financial reporting, to reactive approaches ranging from jail terms to awarding punitive damages. Perhaps, the first step towards eliminating the threats of corruption in Africa is the implementation of the ‘United Nations Convention Against Corruption’ (UNCAC) which was ratified in 2005 by 145 countries and takes a holistic approach to corruption fighting under four main pillars: prevention, criminalisation, asset recovery and international cooperation.
Furthermore, the growth in popularity of the internet together with the development of mobile platforms has opened up opportunities for African countries to exploit jointly in the fight against corruption. Corrupt financial practices can be minimised or totally prevented with the restructuring and re-standardisation of the financial system in place, particularly those concerned with financial reporting, monitoring and evaluation. According to Laurence Cockcroft, a former chair of TI, “the size of the unrecorded economy which means African countries’ unrecorded transactions, amounts to at least 40 per cent of GDP, constituting a vast reservoir from which corrupt payments can be made without trace.” In Congo, much of the output or transactions involving the purchase or sale of its diamonds are largely unrecorded. In Nigeria, oil theft enriches both the local and national players often with strong ties to the government and involves the sale of thousands of barrels per day to enrich themselves while billions of dollars, largely unreported, are lost annually. The case is no different in Tanzania where the price at which its booming mineral exports, notably gold, platinum and uranium, enter the world market is controversial and secretive. However, there seems to be a glimmer of hope as the introduction of superb initiatives such as the ‘Extractive Industries Initiative’, (which commits both companies and governments to reporting the revenue they respectively earn and receive from the exploitation of mineral resources), and the ‘International Financial Reporting Standards’ (which seeks to unify the method used by companies throughout the world in the computation of their financial accounts so that company accounts are comparable across countries) appear to be useful tools in combating illegal transfers and money laundering. Equally important is the introduction of policies and legislation to clamp down on tax evasion. Governments lose billions of dollars through tax malversation at the hands of corporations that refuse to pay tax or pay it below the required rate. A recent ‘Africa Progress Report’ which was produced by a panel of dignitaries including the ex-president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and headed by the ex-UN chief, Mr Kofi Annan, expressed concerns that “firms that shift profits to lower tax jurisdictions cost Africa 38 billion dollars a year.”
Another important tool to eliminate corruption is public accountability. Allowing public oversight and giving citizens the power to hold elected officials accountable is believed that corruption will be minimally reduced. Public accountability can be encouraged by passing the ‘Freedom of Information Act’, which gives citizens the right to be privy to otherwise, undisclosed information, and allows them to have special knowledge of how their government is being run when they need to. To further discourage impropriety in governance, the ‘immunity clause’, which protects public officers from prosecution, should be removed. Since the tenets of the rule of law and democracy proclaim equality before the law, it is absurd for anyone to be outside the reaching grasp of the law. Many African leaders have hidden under the covers of immunity from prosecution to perform lots of atrocities and improprieties. For Africa to overcome the scourge of corruption, all these need to change.
In addition, in the fight against corruption, there is need for proper restructuring and strengthening of existing anti-corruption bodies. The efforts of existing anti-corruption bodies in fighting corruption cannot be over-emphasized. Under Nuhu Ribadu (in 2008), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria’s anti-corruption body, recovered about 5 billion dollars in stolen public funds and secured 250 convictions. Sadly though, despite best efforts of anti-corruption bodies, the spate of corrupt activities remains highly palpable. A recent report by respected Nigerian daily newspaper, Business Day, indicates that the perception of corruption in many African countries has increased over time despite government efforts, such as those of Mozambique and Angola, introducing extensive anti-corruption legislation. Angola ranked 157th out of 176 countries while Mozambique ranked 123rd and Nigeria 139th in the TI corruption perception index. Thus, for anti-corruption bodies to be able to fight corruption there is a need for them to be better equipped in the areas of financial intelligence. In addition, the remuneration of anti-corruption officials needs to be competitive to prevent them from seeking alternative sources of income in the course of their duty. Equally important is the fact that anti-corruption bodies need to be independent and completely insulated from any form of influence or intimidation from any arm of government. Anti-corruption bodies should be granted special powers to prosecute any individual irrespective of his social or political standing. When an anti-corruption body is dependent on the government — particularly the executive arm — the travails of former Nigerian anti-corruption tsar Nuhu Ribadu at the hand of the government at the time, readily comes to mind.
Furthermore, towards encouraging good governance, it is important to promote the tenet of democracy, which gives citizens the right to elect their leaders. Consequently, corruption can be overcome in Africa with free, fair and transparent elections, which in turn produce legitimate leaders who will act in the best interest of the majority and who are aware that any form of impropriety will prevent their re-election to office. For this to become a reality however, it remains the job of every stakeholder, citizens and public officials, to ensure that the vote of everyone counts and that no amount of inducements can buy their votes. More so, a virile and responsible legislature along with an honest judiciary ensures that the right elements of checks and balances are in place to curb the excesses of each arm of government.
In addition to this, corruption can be reduced by ensuring income equality. The high rate of income disparity in Africa is a root cause of corruption among the populace, majority of who live on less than two dollars per day. The disappearance of income inequality coupled with the emergence of an economic middle class would very surely reduce the level of corruption while increasing the level of accountability. In achieving income parity, sizeable investment should be made in the technology and education sectors to improve access, quality and affordability of education. More so, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship should be encouraged for employment generation.
Perhaps crucial to the fight against corruption is the need for international cooperation. Countries of Europe and America need to lend a hand in the fight against corruption by collaborating with local anti-corruption agencies in bringing money launderers to book. A critical and controversial topic in the relations of the developed economies with Africa is centred on aid and donations, which many believe is enough leverage to be used by the West in helping Africa to fight corruption. However, this does not seem to be the case as studies have found that whilst the governments of developed economies suggest that aid is conditional on the pursuit of anti-corruption measures, they often turn a blind eye to how the aid is disbursed and still continue to provide financial support even while there are shouts of widespread mismanagement in the country. Over time, the mismanagement of these funds has left African countries with ‘service debts’. For example, in Egypt 22 million dollars will be spent this year servicing debt accrued by the past military regime of Hosni Mubarak for military purchases. Countries like Gabon, Lesotho and Nigeria also reportedly owe more than 50 per cent of their national debt to export credit or aid agencies like the British Export Credit Guarantee Scheme (ECGS).[1] While aid is not meant to induce corruption, developed economies must help African states fight corruption by demanding proper accountability for aid provided and tie its provision to the achievement of certain goals or milestones in their efforts to reduce corruption. This would prevent some leaders from using aid and loans as a front for corrupt activities considering the level of monitoring and accountability that would accompany them.
CONCLUSION: Finally, corruption is a menace that has eaten deep into the fabric of the society and even though the solutions provided above would go a long way in reducing the level of corruption drastically, it cannot however eliminate it. To eradicate corruption, there is a need for the rejuvenation of our value system. Values of hard work, honesty, contentment, diligence, persistence and other morals have eroded or become extinct. The urgent need for a reorientation of our values is summed up in the words of Joao Martins, the Managing Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers Mozambique, at the 16th Africa Tax and Business symposium, who while lamenting the prevalence of corruption in the form of red tape and agents or intermediaries, remarked that “it will take a whole generation to correct the structure that has been created”. To sum up the views of Africans on the need for a total overhaul of our value system, consider the remark of a youth from Accra, Ghana, in response to a recent ‘BBC Africa’ debate on ‘fighting corruption in Africa’, in her words: “we cannot fight corruption when everyone sees it as a normal thing”. Thus, it is essential for Africa to take its battle against corruption to the coming generation and ensure that they do not follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before them by teaching them our values and the importance of hard work; as it is often said in the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria that “the pruning of an Iroko tree (a giant tree) is done at the nursery stage.” Hence, the need to commence the grooming of our young ones by making sure true values and morals are enshrined in them for a better Africa.
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