CORRUPTION;  DOES IT EXIST?

We have to look at the subject of corruption from another angle. What is the position as far as African culture and tradition is concerned?

The colonialists brough us their own concept of how a country is governed. They brought us their Constitutions. According to the Costitutions they brought us, there is a clause which states that if a Public Official receives a gift in his official capacity, then that gift must be handed over to the Accounting Officer.

This clause is there in Kenya, Nigeria, Britain, America, India, Ghana, everywhere. This would mean that if a Police Officer somewhere in Nigeria receives a bribe of, say 200 naira, then the money must be handed over to the Accounting Officer. In the same vein, if Yar 'Ardua is given a present of a horse or a goat, or a camel somewhere, that gift should be handed over to the Accounting Officer. This includes the relatives of the said public servents. In other words, they are not supposed to use their iffices or positions for personal gain.

In theory, this is a very good piece of legislature. It should, by itself, prevent any forms of corruption. But it overlooks some very important areas.

Africans are, by nature, very generous people. It is standard practise to give gifts. For centuries, we have been giving gifts to our kings whenever we went to visit them, or sought favours from them. And they accepted these gifts as theirs.
In fact, for an African, if he gives you a gift, and you sell it or give it away, you are infact rejecting the gift and this is bad manners and an insult to the giver.

Ther fact that we now elect our leaders does not mean that we have ceased to be Africans, and that our African values should be discarded.

SO I SAY THER IS NO CORRUPTION IN AFRICA.

What do we have? I call it theft. It is very simple really. If I give you some money to take  to my home, and you spend it, you must repay. If you take my property without my knowledge, that is theft, not corruption. Have you wondered, why, when a junior officer takes some 1,000 to pay school fees he will be charged for theft, but a Governor taking 10 million naira will have to be investigated first and be charged for corruption?

It is because the powers-that -be must always protect each other. So they came up with corruption, not theft. Us minors a thieves, and the big ones are corrupt. We have been led to believe this. Let us all call them thieves, because that is what they are. and nothing else.

LET THEM BE CHARGED UNDER THEFT LAWS AND NOT CORRUPTION BECAUSE THEY HAVE STOLEN FROM US.

SAMSON LIPUKA
NAIROBI
KENYA