Corruption: New approach needed to fight ‘viral vice’

Part II. In our previous part of this series that ran in Sunday Monitor of November 25, we discussed how the same person cannot be the investigator, prosecutor and a judge on the matter of corruption. In this last part, the writer discusses the new strategies for fighting corruption.

Having looked at what are good options in addressing the current corruption, it becomes clear that we should apply a strategic problem-oriented policing.

Lango wisdom states that odero pe pyete kene, meaning that you cannot just be in the waiting for a good outcome without investing some effort. Odero is a Lango winnowing tool for use by women in sifting husks from seeds. There are three approaches to taming the vice.

Solutions to completely eliminate corruption would be the best but it is a long term strategy that, in most cases, might not be sustainable.

Then we have the solutions to significantly reduce the extent of corruption. This can be worked on under the medium term of actions; issues to do with finding long term structure, retraining of staff and identification of resources (financial and assets) for implementation are called for.

Another solution could be to reduce the severity or consequences of the problem.

This third solution is implemented under a short term or a crisis process and it is what the CIID and Auditor General are now doing. This solution is short-lived and a wise strategist should have already been on the drawing board to develop work plans for the first and second solutions.

I am now therefore advising government to come up with intervention measures for medium and long term plans.
Let us take a more meaningful and proactive individual, institutional and national direction.

We know that we are now engulfed by the shadow of corruption along the tunnels of national development. Under this matter, you or your institution may be weak and small when planning and laying strategies to tackle various solutions, but it is a good thing for a beginning and that could act as light at the beginning of the tunnel.

Converting theory into practice
Institutions and organisations of the nation that work without or outside their plans are bound to get lost, confused, and perform through a crisis. Implementation would be the reality of converting the images of the plans from theories to the light of truth, and thus becomes light along the way in a tunnel.

Then best of all is the accountability to show that we travelled along the right way, on a right purpose and the right result achieved as light at the end of the tunnel.

The logic presents a situation where everything being done as plan, implementation and accountability must be undertaken with the highest level of the triple “T” as the truth, trust, and transparency (TTT), including the realities about weaknesses, wrongdoing and positive progress made and corrective measures to be taken.

This would be strategic knowledge; knowledge of the right way of doing the right things over a long period of time. This is knowledge about what structures, functions, systems, goals and staffing are to be established. It is the knowledge of management of change and operationalising of organisational activities. And knowledge of the corporate assurance through monitoring, evaluation and performance accountability.

To develop and manage the required strategy, there is need for the leaders of the nation and managers of institutions to have this knowledge. The secret is not in what you have or control, but in whether you know how to efficiently and effectively use the scarce resources you have.

We have known basic elements and principles of the processes to follow such as identifying and defining the problem — for example, a problem is a set of incidents which occur in a given community which are similar in one or several aspects and are worrisome to the public and the security and law enforcement organisations officers. The basic principle dictates that a problem is made up of repeated or connected incidents.

Secondly, we have to analyse the problem. This is a process which must entail identifying the people affected by the problem and defining how they are affected, describing what has been done up to now, finding relevant information which could help explain the cause of the problem, and identifying the elements which will determine whether the problem has been solved completely or partially.

After analysing the problem, then we can draw an intervention plan. Here we determine whether the problem has been solved in whole or in part so that the resolve becomes the basis for the objectives to be set in the next step.

The strategic objectives may have the following goals: Solutions to completely eliminate the problem, significantly reduce the extent of the problem, reduce the severity or consequences of the problem, improve the role of anticorruption officers’ response to the problem, and make the responsible parties accountable for the problem.

There is also need to assess measurements, procedures and tools of varying complexity depending on the situation which enables one to verify the adequacy of anti-corruption actions to pin point those aspects of the intervention which should be modified and to measure the actual effect of the intervention plan with respect to its objectives.

I do welcome the decisions of the Executive and Parliament in taking some measures to reduce the severity or consequences of the problem. But they (Executive and Parliament) should never die on the cross on behalf of the thieves by attempting to pay off for the loses, instead they should create votes by taking all the bulls by their horns. The law of justice is that “it is one for himself and only God for us all.”

The culprits selfishly and criminally commandeered national economy and taxpayers’ treasures, which were used for camouflaging corruption and being enjoyed by their spouses, children, close relatives, in-laws and friends. This is a very serious national economic tragedy of the Pearl of Africa.

Political will needed
The first law of political will is that it declines in direct proportion to the proximity of corruption among all the political, security and civil elites of a country, particularly those responsible for making public decisions and control of resources.

Conversely, political will seemed strengthened by the closeness of peripheral corruption associated with predecessors, critics, rivals and opponents of the government.

For sure and real, the most effective political will to combat corruption is consequently often retrospective and directed more at punishing the already identified past transgressors than at preventing new corruption. The political will should not, this time, decline at the shadows of the culprits.

The key people in whose proximity the investigations or prosecutions of this corruption will either die or succeed include the following as in door one: the CIID, police, auditors, experts and witnesses; in door two: are the State attorneys, prosecutors, politicians, chief executives and lawyers. In door three are magistrates, judges, prisons and defence lawyers and the last stage is the civil society, cultural and religious leaders, the development partners, the Fountain of Honor, and the citizens. The Pearl of Africa looks forward to the positive will of all these.

If leaders cannot practise the political will, then they should practise the “will of God” and a much long awaited one. Jesus Christ taught the will through prayers, saying “thy will be done on earth as in heaven”, starts with forgiveness for the people who have done wrong to us. The Lango say, “ka olo le, kweri dong mom tongo”, meaning that what has defeated an axe, no hoe can cut.

The will of God is not for meaningless things and not willing any of us to sin. If we cannot now use the political will, we should not even attempt to claim any mercy from God.

This is a call for all of us in the Pearl of Africa to stand to be counted and offer what we can; spiritual, social or capital to reinforce the Executive and parliamentary efforts to recover our damaged glory.
Thank you for your attention, and For God and my country.

The writer is a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com