Lack or Absence of Strong Institutions: When state institutions are silent, weak or simply non-existent, so much so that it becomes common course to flout the rules of the state.
Fear of Reprisals: When office holders are stronger than the ethics of the offices they hold.
Unfit of or for Purpose: When there is lack of clarity of the purpose of the political party, the government and the state.
Party Loyalty as Opposed to National Loyalty: When loyalty to an individual or party matters more for people’s career development than competency or meritorious criteria.
Financial Insecurity: When those appointed to high posts live in disbelief that they are where they are and that the discrepancy between their official life styles and their normal life standards are worlds apart, people tend to be centrally preoccupied with their livelihood instead of what is expected of them as servants of the nation, and consequently invariably sacrifice whatever principles and values they might have had on the altar of expediency to safeguard their new life with all its perks.
Government ministers, mainly because of the manner in which they came to politics and enjoy its trappings of power, are constantly in fear of an uncertain future as they have ‘nowhere’ to go back to, and they simply cannot think of returning to where the President found them – the world of nothingness and nobodiness!
Poor or Lack of Oversight: In the absence of strong institutions, execrated by the fact that the executive and the legislature are conflated into the same persons, there is just no oversight and accountability amongst state and government officials, and as a result, things get swept under the carpet as the officials scratch one another’s’ backs in the game of politics.
Politics as Zero-sum Game: To most so-called political leaders for whom the art of politics is by no means a calling or vocation, it is a job they do and are willing to do anything for to survive and see losing out as a zero-sum game.
Lack of Effectiveness in the Execution of Public Policies: People go by experience and what they hear from others whether measures are enforced or not.
Inconsistency in Enforcement of Disciplinary Measures: When policies are seen to be toothless or not binding, that is when they are applied selectively depending on who the culprit is, degeneration of the system ensues.
Lack of a Culture of Accountability: When systems are such that the buck does not stop anywhere, people will take the nearest gap and corrupt the system further and deeper.
Family and/or Community Dependency on the Individual Hero Member: When one member of the family or even the community is expected to provide for the needs of everybody so much so that the rest do not have to do anything while the hero member is in a position of power or influence. This is a sad offshoot of African traditional political life when the one person who inherited the throne looked after the whole group who by virtue of their relationships with him, could no longer be expected to do menial work like the ordinary people. In such instances, the one hero was a mere custodian of the pride and success of all, and thus they were all entitled to his glory, and when he was dislodged from power, the whole group was punished as well. This state of affairs remains a major factor that leads to corruption and all manner of official deviances and personalization of public resources in Africa.
It is also a fact that when one person in the family becomes the president or minister or such that whole family, extended family that is, becomes dependent upon that person. And such an extended and extending family’s life style is tied into the position of the One Big or Great Man in the family. He or she on the other hand has to fend for all as they are tied into his honour and prestige as the corner stone of the family. Such life style to all intents and purposes cannot be sustained on a government salary, and such a Great Man or Woman has to find extra sources of income for everybody. This in turn leads to the psychosis that people want to stay permanently in power since there is no way they could sustain their newly acquired life style outside of government comfort zones with the trappings that go with it, including the ability to access resources extra legally.
The Costs of Corruption in Government: Corruption, undoubtedly, has a negative effect on economic growth and the moral fibre of any society or organization;
Corruption causes the system to be unpredictable and un-transparent and can thus not promote justice;
Corruption leads to excessive and high expenditure;
Corruption leads to personalized fights in the system and renders the national system unable to defend and protect the weak and the innocent;
Corruption creates a culture of the law of the jungle wherein only the fittest survive;
Corruption leads to loss of faith and confidence in public institutions and law enforcement agencies such as the police;
Corruption leads to a national political culture where the leaders are arrogant, defensive in their conduct with preconceived notions and aloof and unable to respond to the issues affecting the people, since the leaders no longer work for the people, but only serve themselves in the name of the people.
Possible Ways to Combat Corruption: Corruption can only be minimized and never be eradicated. Where human beings are in competition for resources or favours, there will always be schemes to bend the rules to get ahead of others. The only way to make strides in fighting the scourge of corruption is by embarking on a national campaign by doing the following:
Accepting that facilitators of corruption are connected with the political elite and political barons of the state cooperate in a mafia style whereby they protect one another at all times;
Appreciating that those in charge of the affairs of the state have to set the example of frugal and corruption free life styles;
Calling for the political tone to be set at the top not only in words, but also in deed and by consistency;
Involving professionals in the business of the state and government: those who know how to do the job and not in favour of or against politicians on partisan grounds;
Naming and shaming those who are found to be guilty of corruption regardless of their positions in the ruling echelons of the government and party;
Developing and strengthening human resources management systems that assure openness, transparency, predictability, equity, efficiency, competency and integrity beyond personalities;
Establishing systems and standards that promote ethics and the integrity of the system and strengthening of the parts that make the system strong in the short-, medium- and long-terms;
Putting in place mechanisms that safeguard accountability in the public service through effective legal frameworks and management regimens;
Putting in place and elaborating on strategies to influence the culture and daily life of the people who work in and benefit from the system;
Introducing in primary school syllabi teaching materials about good governance with ethics and accountability and the efficacies of a corruption-free environment to benefit all the members of and in that society;
Promoting access to information, including the freedom to report wrongdoing, and follow-up by the authorities tasked to do so;
Creating an environment wherein people, both inside and outside of the government bureaucracies learn the ethics of working in unison guided by the precepts of RESIST, REJECT and REPORT any behaviours and/or actions of corruption wherever and whenever it is noticed, so much so that it becomes the right thing to do. Generally in any situation of corruption there are three elements at play: the corruptor, the corruptee and the existence of a corrupt relationship.
In accord with the definition of corruption above, we have to be realistic to affirm that at the time of independence in 1990, there was nothing like a sound system in Namibia that the leadership could have corrupted or caused to degenerate. We started practically from scratch and managed to build systems across the country that are now the envy of many in the international community.
At the moment Namibia is, to all intends and purposes, one of the few countries in the world with the lowest levels of corruption.
It would appear that much of what we decry as corruption are management issues of incompetency, mismanagement, maladministration and malpractice and theft that can be combated through strengthening of criminal laws and procedures rather than saddle the Anti-corruption Commission with cases that make it easier for the commission not to go after the real and big fish, who are undermining our hard-earned democracy with their greed and indifference towards the poor and most vulnerable of our society. In this we ought to stand together and be vigilant against official deviances of corruption, malfeasance and misfeasance.
Future generations deserve to hear better stories about how our stewardship of resources was conducted with them in mind, not just our stomachs. Namibia has come a long way in a short time of self-rule, and there is a lot we ought to be grateful for.
While we have a right to be critical, we must remain vigilant in defence of the solid foundations that have been laid in the last 24 years.
It thus becomes incumbent upon all of us to MAINTAIN what we have, IMPROVE on what works and BUILD further.
By Joseph Diescho