Corruption in Africa - Essay Example

of the of the of the Corruption in Africa Transparency International defined corruption as an abuse of public office for private gain. Some scholars defined it as an act in which the power of public office is used for personal gains (Bissessar 337). In Africa, bureaucrats control economic growth and development. This tendency has increased after independence from colonial power. Bureaucrats play an important role in promoting the growth and development of the majority of the African nations. They influence the political and law making systems, and engage in activities that maximize their benefits, rather than promoting the growth of their nation (Mbaku). As such, corruption is rampant in the majority of the African nations. This has proved to be extremely detrimental to the economic and political development of the countries of this continent. For instance, Kenya as depicted in the graph appended below, has exhibited a continuous decline in its economic freedom score, over the years. Its economic freedom score of 57.5 is far below the world average (The Heritage Foundation). (The Heritage Foundation). Property rights in Kenya are not protected to any significant extent and the widespread corruption ensures that there is little if any entrepreneurial activity. The judiciary is heavily influenced by political considerations and the rule of law is chimera at best (The Heritage Foundation). The World Bank has published its annual report Africa Development Indicators 2010. According to this report, the ever increasing corruption imposes a disproportionate effect on the poor in Africa. It also poses threats to long term consequences for development and economic growth. The majority of bureaucrats in Africa are given to taking bribes. Moreover, bribery is present to a substantial extent among powerful politicians and their followers (The World Bank). This report has analyzed quiet corruption, which jeopardizes service delivery mechanisms. In purely monetary terms, quiet corruption has a much lesser effect. However, it proves to be extremely harmful for the poor. This is because the poor are more dependent on the schemes and services of the government, and public systems, in order to meet their fundamental requirements (The World Bank). Moreover, the Chief Economist for the Africa Region of the World Bank, Shanta Devarajan, is of the opinion that although quiet corruption has not gained much publicity, it is of great danger to society. However, this variety of corruption does not attract attention. In order to fight quiet corruption, there has to be a strong and committed leadership, policies and institutions at the sectoral level. Moreover, citizen participation and accountability have to increase significantly (The World Bank). Moreover, citizen participation and accountability have to increase significantly. In addition, according to a 2004 report, more than 20% of the teachers in rural areas of Kenya were found to be absent during school hours. In Uganda, the rate of absenteeism was more than 27% in the year 2002. Studies have revealed that in West Africa, the governments failed to implement effective controls over businesses. In the 1990s, it was found that more than 43% of the fertilizers sold in the market lacked nutrition value (The World Bank). Thus, laws and controls were found to be ineffective in many states of the West African region. Furthermore, other studies disclosed that counterfeit drugs were sold openly in Nigeria. This problem was endemic and more than 50% of the drugs sold on the market were not genuine. Surveys carried out in Uganda suggest that the absenteeism rate is increasing among health care providers. In 2002, the absenteeism rate among this group was 33 % (The World Bank). Moreover, Quiet corruption has long term consequences, and this is its most dangerous feature. Children are deprived of proper education due to the absenteeism of teachers; and patients fail to receive adequate healthcare, due to absenteeism among health care providers. The counterfeit drugs cause serious damage to health. In addition, there are no drugs available for serious diseases, such as malaria. Farmers cannot produce the expected amount of crops, due to diluted fertilizers (The World Bank). All these problems affect the overall growth of productivity and the economy of a large number of African nations. In addition, under the statism model adopted by most of the African nations, the state controls and provides resources to industries. This approach promotes the power and wealth of bureaucrats and politicians in the African nations. As a consequence these governments have become investors, exporters, importers, and bankers. In Africa, the state is the principal employer and the primary redistributors of income (Mbaku). Accordingly, the state enacts and implements a number of regulations and statutes. In addition, the government collects vast amounts as taxes from the farm sector, which is largely unorganized. At the same time it provides substantial subsidies to the urban sector, which boasts of considerable organization (Mbaku). It has been generally observed that in many African nations, the state’s intervention is excessive. The public employees implement the policies and laws of the state, and thereby have a significant influence in the enforcement of the various laws. This provides them with excessive control over the allocation of public resources. It is the usual practice for the bureaucrats to manipulate public policies in favor of the private sector, and to benefit from such activity. These corrupt bureaucrats amass wealth at the cost of society at large (Mbaku). They create an artificial shortage of public resources to extort bribes and favors from the private sector. This situation leads to reduced enforcement of state regulations and rules. The individuals affected most by this inequitable and iniquitous situation are individuals and groups. Their interests, prosperity, and opportunities are adversely affected by the corrupt practices of bureaucrats. In post – independent Africa, the most prosperous persons are the bureaucrats and politicians. There is universal recognition that members of political groups and bureaucrats are the chief cause for the ever increasing corruption in African nations (Mbaku). There is universal recognition that members of political groups and bureaucrats are the chief cause for the ever increasing corruption in African nations. In the post – independence era, the African military has emerged as a major influence in many nations. This military force requires a vast amount of resources from the government. Thus, the allocation of resources has been skewed to an appreciable extent. Furthermore, the distribution of government’s services and other resources has also been disturbed (Mbaku). As such, governments have to provide a major share of the budgetary allocations to these armed forces. It is the considered opinion of some scholars that African countries incorporate several defective cultural practices, behaviors, and norms and that these promote corruption. Some scholars have declared that corruption can be related to the conflict between traditional values and the foreign standards adopted by the people. Modernization and industrial development have also contributed to increased corruption (Mbaku). In accordance with this perspective, corruption is inevitable in developing countries where there is economic modernization and political development. In the developing world, group rights are superior to individual rights. As a result ethnic rights assume greater significance than individual rights. In the context of the African nations, these considerations assume special significance. These features have been deemed to be one of the chief causes of corruption in the bureaucracy. As such, public employees in the African countries accord significant priority to the interests of their families and ethnic groups (Mbaku). Consequently, they engage in corrupt practices to meet these demands. Moreover, the displacement of people takes place to an alarming extent in Africa. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre 11.1 million people had been internally displaced on account of violence and conflict in 21 countries of Africa. This region was witness to substantial forced movement of the population during that year. Around 40% of the internally displaced belong to African countries (Internal Displacement in Africa). Among these, Sudan had the dubious distinction of possessing 40% of the displaced persons in Africa. Despite the gradual reduction in the number of internally displaced persons, there were large scale population movements in several African countries. For instance during the first 10 months of the year 2010 there were some 220,000 people who were newly displaced in Southern Sudan and the number of such persons in Darfur was 270,000 (Internal Displacement in Africa). The newly displaced persons in the Democratic Republic of Congo were of the order of several hundred thousand. In Somalia, around 300,000 people were forced to flee from their dwellings. Some of the other African nations that were beset with internal displacements in the year 2010 were Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Central African Republic, Cȏte d’Îvoire and Zimbabwe. The number of internally displaced persons in Africa crossed the 26 million mark in the year 2007. The number of such persons in the year 2006 was 24.5 million (Internal Displacement). These people had been displaced on account of armed conflict. In addition, displacement or forced migration is at its maximum in Africa. In some areas, the migration is still continuing, especially in the areas south of the Sahara. Africa is affected the most with regards to the scourge of human displacement. Nineteen countries of this continent have a high number of internally displaced persons. The majority of the displaced people of the world belong to Africa. Among these Sudan has the highest rate of human displacement. It has been estimated that this country has more than six million displaced persons (Africa). No other country in the world has such a number of displaced persons. In 2004, there was a new displacement of persons to the tune of one million, and a considerable number of these people were from Darfur. The Democratic Republic of Congo is second after Sudan in terms of human displacement. It has 2.3 million internally displaced persons. The third position goes to Uganda with two million displaced persons (Africa). Subsequent to independence from colonial powers the situation in most of the African nations has deteriorated. Democracy has failed in Africa and the economic development in many African countries is dismal. The major portion of the wealth is concentrated with the politically elite. The common man in Africa is starving, and deprived of food and freedom. African children are seriously undernourished and unschooled. The promulgation of guns, civil wars, and armed conflicts further worsens the condition of the poverty stricken people in many African countries (Beichman). As such, many African countries experience chronic poverty and deprivation. These factors are the result of inequalities in the distribution of resources. Corruption is the chief contributor for this condition. Over the past forty years, there has been considerable economic and human development in the world. Many regions and nations have witnessed this (Mbaku) . However, the situation has remained the same in the African continent. Many counties in this region still suffer from poverty and deprivation. Thus, Africa is the poorest region in the world as per the data supplied by the United Nations. It can be surmised that the prime reason for this dismal state of affairs in Africa can be attributed to the prevalent corruption in various sectors of society and government. Works Cited Africa. n.d. 3 February 2012. . Beichman, Arnold. "Corruption in Africa." The Washington Times 5 November 2006: B 03. Bissessar, Nicole. "Does Corruption Persist in Sub – Saharan Africa?" International Advances in Economic Research 15.3 (2009): 336 – 350. "Internal Displacement." April 2008. internal displacement monitoring centre. 3 February 2012. . "Internal Displacement in Africa." n.d. internal displacement monitoring centre. 3 February 2012. . Mbaku, John Mukum. "Bureaucratic Corruption in Africa: The Futility of Cleanups." 1996. the Cato Journal. 3 February 2012. . The Heritage Foundation. "Kenya." 2012. Graph. 2 February 2012. . The World Bank. "Quiet Corruption" Undermining Development in Africa. 2011. 2 February 2012. . Read More