Yesterday, Kenyans were treated to a rare moment of drama when the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) officials laid a trap to bribe-taking traffic officers when they launched a sting operation along the Nakuru-Naivasha highway after members of the public complained that traffic police officers manning the road, constantly subject them to harassment while extorting their hard-earned cash in order to be left scot-free after flouting traffic rules.
While a majority of Kenyans see this as a step in the right direction in the war against corruption, especially considering the fact that, we recently passed a new constitution the other day and that our country is excited about the prospects for change that will bring, to me this is nothing but a mere PR exercise that wont take us anywhere nor bare any fruits. For those who care to remember, these are the same tactics that the former anti-corruption czar, Justice Arron Gitonga Ringera employed and never bore any fruit(s) as far as ending or taming corruption is concerned. Instead, it has been business as usual as our police officers, civil servants, politicians and ordinary wananchi continue soliciting for more bribes unabated. The judiciary for instance has been notoriously famous for selling justice to the highest bidder, hence creating a conducive environment for corruption to take root due to the backlog of cases that continue to pile up hence denying poor Kenyans the much needed justice.
What PLO Lumumba (a man i respect a lot) and his team fail to understand is that, corruption doesn't have a physical embodiment which you could run around chasing after like a chicken. Granted, we all are innately corrupt. Even the bible acknowledges this fact that we are born sinners with corrupt minds because our first parents were corrupt.
The problem of corruption resides in the minds of the people and that's where the battle should begin and eventually end hopefully. What we see out here is just but a manifestation of our continuous neglect and unwillingness to finally & boldly slay the dragon of corruption. What we need as a society and a country at large, is to raise a people with dignity, values and pride in themselves. People who appreciate hard work and honest living and eventually a people who respect systems, institutions and laws that govern the country. Such people are expected to offer leadership in the country that respects human rights like access to basic needs i.e. water, sanitation, food, good housing and security to mention but a few. This in turn will raise their dignity and remove the temptation that comes with poverty. Fighting corruption therefore calls for a sustainable effort aimed at bringing together all the stakeholders on board for synergy and chat a way forward on strategies and techniques to use in order to at least reduce the levels of corruption from critical to sustainable levels, because lets face it folks, like i earlier said in my introduction, we are all born corrupt, so lets not expect a panacea that will magically kill the dragon that is corruption, but the small steps that me and you take , when summed up together, will bring a huge difference in our society. That's what i call success!
Lets sort out first the man in the mirror.
