DKM Diamond Micro-Finance LTD “CORRUPTION, BARRICADE TO SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA”. It is ludicrous that the efforts and philosophical ideas initiated by patriarchs like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Nandi-Azikewe, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta, Emperor Hail Selassie and pan Africans like William Dubois (father of Africanism and black thought) and Martin Luther King Junior to place Africa on higher economic pedestal have vanished into the thin air due to the treacherous governing attitude of most African leaders. Many were those who thought the good developmental ideas of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and other past African leaders will continue to grow but it has never been the case due to corrupt practices on the part of present and other past African leaders. We can duly talk of African leaders like the late Mobuto Sese Seko of Democratic Republic of Congo, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe among others. Upon all the rich minerals, the continent is continuously declining at a faster rate with rebels considering mutiny as the most reliable alternative to disintegrate the negative ploy of their leaders who had over decades relied on looting as a way of crumbling their economies. The static growth of African countries can be attributed to high rate of corruption. According to the African Union, more than 148 billion dollars is lost to corruption in Africa every year. This alarming figure is equivalent to 25 per cent of Africa’s Gross Domestic Product. A further study carried out by the World Bank revealed that corrupt public officials in developing and transition countries receive between 20 and 40 billion dollars in bribes annually, which is equivalent to 20 to 40 per cent of official development assistance. It is undeniable fact that venality is a global phenomenon depleting structures in all the five continents. However, Africa’s own is unimaginable. Corrupt practices in Africa is a serious threat to prosperity, security and development and impedes economic growth, trade and investment, perpetuates poverty and compromises markets and supply chains. Investigating corruption and conducting financial investigations, prosecuting corruption and bribery, utilizing international tools and networks and ways of using international standards on corruption, to strengthen domestic efforts. Ghana with the establishment of the Economic and Organized Crime Office and other anti-corruption institutions continue to investigate and prosecute crimes such as money laundering, human trafficking and cybercrime but not devoid of insincerity. Also, Tanzania in July 2012, the Parliament investigated 625 allegations of bribery against police officials during the year. The 2012 Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) secured more than 20 convictions resulting from the 273 corruption cases it investigated which represented an improvement over the number of convictions secured by the ACC in 2011. Nigeria too had passed a landmark law providing citizens with access to information and provides them with critical tool in fighting corruption while the Liberia government had been able to dismiss a number of officials for corrupt practices. With the growing corruption trend in Africa, it has dully become necessary for the private sector to join hands effectively in the crusade against malfeasance among government officials and institutions. Time has come all for individuals to consider the crusade against acts of corrupt practices as shared responsibilities. African leaders usually launch anti-corruption crusade with lots of fanfare and pronouncements of lofty ideas. These types of exercises are greeted by a lot of hope and pessimism at the same time. An expectation is created that changes will come about to punish those persons who have carried out gross corrupt acts in the past and prevent others in the future from doing likewise. Sometimes these crusades do result in prominent and highly- placed public officials who have engaged in corruption being punished thereby serving as a deterrent to others. Politically, there are many reasons why anti-corruption reforms do not work effectively. It may be that the crusade was never a serious attempt at reform, with the government simply reacting to a scandal or, in the case of many developing countries, external pressure from donors. If a government is simply going through the motions, it may not put the right people or adequate resources into the crusade. This will result in the crusade not having any serious impact or simply fizzling out. Renowned technocrats in Africa have persistently suggested varied ways by which the issue of growing corrupt practices among politicians and other key functionaries can be resolved with ease. However, wanting to achieve their concealed ambitions most autocratic governments disregard such suggestions, instead stick to their unwarranted measures that lack the barometer to uncover their heinous deals. Formation of countless committees seen by citizenry as one way of siphoning state funds are dominantly used to bring alleged corrupt officials into book. Unfortunately, this too hardly works since it is all the time manipulated by corrupt officials making it intricate to ensure justice. Contributing to the escalating canker (corruption), the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DKM Diamond Microfinance Limited, Mr. Martin Dalle, a young Pan Africanist, quoted one of the philosophical quotes of Martin Luther King Junior which states “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Upon Luther’s quotation, Mr. Delle personally quoted as saying “Mother Africa time has come for our politicians to see corruption as demonic canker that has the urge to halt development from social and economic angles. Under no circumstance can corrupt politicians drive away corruption, hence the need for African leaders to live formative life style in order for them to stand tall in the crusade against corruption. The Western countries are now better than Africans but it is as a result of bad governance that has led most African countries to be underdeveloped. It is more implausible to realize that upon all the bestowed natural resources Africa continue to be dependent. When will mother Africa come out from the shackles of economic slavery? It is undeniable fact that corruption has become a barricade to socio-economic development in Africa”. Summarily, it should be considered that anti- corruption crusades alone do not work. Meanwhile, they should not be neglected just because most of them have failed to make the expected impact. Instead, the purposive initiative must be curved into comprehensive national programme in order to win the trust and confidence of renowned elites whose ideas or opinions matters when it comes to the issue of corruption and other national sensitive issues. Having a comprehensive inventiveness means fighting corrupt practices cannot be the sole prerogative of politicians whereby they have the power to handle corruption in their own way to score non existing scores and shield their cronies who are always victimized.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 20:49:02 +0000
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