A report by Transparency International, the global anti-graft organisation, has pinpointed corruption as the biggest impediment to Kenya achieving the UN Millenium Development Goals.
The linkages in the corruption chain are found in the Government's procurement and the various levels of bribery that go with it.
One of the targets of MDGs is improved water access, but the TI report suggests that in Africa, a country's cost of connecting households to water sources may increase by Sh80 billion simply due to corruption.
There are other interesting findings, including the correlation between paying bribes, strong and effective anti-corruption laws and literacy levels among those in the 15-24 year-old bracket.
The higher the literacy levels, the more aware this group is about the law and the remedies available for dealing with bribe-seeking Government officials. The World Bank says sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, continues to lag behind in overcoming poverty, a key MDG.
If jobs are not being created fast enough, desperation pushes more people to pay bribes in order to secure employment for friends and relatives. The corruption chain thus becomes self-sustaining, despite strong anti-graft legislation.
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The fight against corruption, therefore, must be multi-pronged and include serious efforts to create jobs, increase access to both basic and higher education.
But one external factor that makes it harder to meet MDGs is the huge trade imbalance in favour of industrialised nations. What is needed is more investment in industries that produce high-value goods for the local and export markets.
In fact a recent report by the World Bank notes that every dollar spent on investment goods in developing countries yields as much as Sh28 (35 US cents) worth of demand for capital goods.
Source: The Standard | Online Edition
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