I have been wondering whether corruption in Kenya is theft as many think, or plain cruelty? It appears to me that corruption is a cruel game played only by the unkind and selfish people who think of no one else but themselves as they embezzle public funds.
The billions of shillings lost every year, mostly stolen by senior public and State officials, has a correlation to poor service delivery. Other impacts include delayed or unpaid salaries and pensions for public workers. Most Kenyans know of a family member, friend or neighbour who has died waiting for their pension.
Allegations of bribes being demanded before Kenyans can access their pensions are still rife despite promises made to streamline the process. One wonders what happens to the money left behind by the dead pensioners who never benefited from their contributions. Should relatives get it?
The National Social Security Fund has a lot to answer to as it continues to tolerate corruption around pension and investments.
It is unacceptable in this day age, where technology has made identification systems and transfer of money easier, elderly pensioners are still expected to travel across the country to access their funds.
Every hurdle in government offices is left uncleared deliberately to enable bribery to thrive around services that should be free to all.
Billions lost to corruption
Three groups of professions have been at loggerheads the most with the government—doctors, nurses and teachers. These groups have been on strike more than others, yet they are crucial personnel that a developing country such as Kenya desperately needs.
Teaching may be a noble profession but that does not mean teachers should not be remunerated for sharing their knowledge with their students. Doctors, nurses, teachers and, if I may add, the police, should be paid in a timely fashion and remunerated well so that they can focus on their important jobs of healing, educating and enhancing security.
The reason why these key personnel go on strike repeatedly is because of poor pay and delayed salaries. In some cases, the government has failed to employ nurses, doctors and teachers, instead choosing to export them to other countries. The reason given for not employing these groups of crucial workers or even failing to pay them is often cited as unavailability of funds.
It is hard to believe such an excuse when billions are lost to corruption every year and the same people meant to pay the salaries, such as Cabinet secretaries and governors are the first culprits when it comes to theft of public funds.
Interestingly, there has never been a moment when senior government officials and politicians’ salaries have been delayed. Instead, they unashamedly ask striking doctors, nurses and teachers who have not been paid for months to return to work on empty stomachs rather than fight for their dues.
Most of the money embezzled in the country is stolen using myriads of schemes, from unfinished white elephants that gobbled billions of shillings to exaggerated prices of wheelbarrows and office tea.
In the wake of the stolen billions will be many junior workers going for months without pay and services on their knees, something that has become quite common in most counties.
The problem of unpaid salaries and poor remuneration of public workers will not end any time soon if corruption continues to be looked at through the political prism rather than from the economic crimes point of view.
Failure to punish corruption at the top, is leading to trickle-down effect of economic crimes. The money stolen is creating a snowball effect where junior workers who see the “big fish” go unpunished are turning to economic crimes themselves to make ends meet.
To make matters worse, as teachers go on strike demanding for better pay, their savings are being stolen by corrupt officials meant to run their cooperatives.
It may be far-fetched, but I believe one of the best ways to end corruption should be prioritising prompt payment of salaries and other remuneration to public workers. They ought to receive their salaries before their seniors to avoid further abuse of funds.
Also, doctors, teachers and majority of public servants ought to be employed on a permanent and pensionable basis to improve productivity, avoid abuse of public workers, and brain drain.
Prompt payment of salaries and pensions needs to be encouraged to build a strong economy. Salaries and pensions delays lead to rise in poverty among the workers. We must therefore prioritise public workers’ rights to end corruption and improve service delivery.
