By NERIMA WAKO-OJIWA

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Kenya has such a long and deep history of corruption that it is difficult to speak of our 54-year journey and pretend not to recognise the centrality of the role it has played – so much so that getting rid of all corruption could plunge the country into an economic crisis.

Agreed, rampant corruption can completely destroy a country – but we have to be realistic about the kind of corruption we are talking about.

Name a country that is free of corruption at all levels. I will give you a hint: That country does not exist.

It will not be obvious like bribing a police officer not to give you a ticket for taking a wrong turn, but it will show up in high-level meetings with governments being lobbied to purchase pharmaceutical drugs that may not be the best for the population. So, all countries struggle with corruption but the kind of corruption we witness in Kenya is at such a mutated level, it is lethal.

We have been celebrating the demolition of buildings built on riparian land but forget that not too long ago, opposition leader Raila Odinga was also known for demolishing buildings that should have never received a permit to go up on road reserves in the first place.

The number of deaths we have witnessed because a building is not properly structured makes you wonder how the contractors managed to build it, receive tenants and exist for years.

In the neighbourhood my parents live in, a residential area not far from the central business district, a new neighbour started demolishing his house in order to put up a new structure.

The neighbourhood found out that the structure would be a mall, and the mall coming up was a four-story building. They took legal action, informing neighbours of the plan, signing forms disagreeing and asking questions such as – “Where will people park? What about access to water, will it affect us? Security?”

They then submitted their complaints to the authorities. The area they lived in was residential so certain buildings could not come up within certain proximities, so they were quite confident about getting their way. Only to find out weeks later that the individual in question had received a permit.

Luckily for them, with the current wave of demolitions, he has changed his mind.

A few days ago, a Member of Parliament passionately narrated how members were receiving Ksh10,000 ($100) to reject a report informing the public whether the sugar being sold in the market is contaminated.

Interestingly, the uproar was not focused on the bribe. People were surprised by the pettiness of the bribes, not the actual bribery.

Trade union boss Francis Atwoli stated, “Our children who go to Koinange [prostitutes] are better off. They feed themselves, unlike an MP who goes to parliament to get 10,000-shilling bribes.”

Members of Parliament vehemently defended themselves – some mentioning that they were fundraising for a colleague’s wedding (which the colleague in question denied). Still others said that the CCTV cameras in the House would show that no such thing happened.

Getting rid of corruption is not that simple, but we can work to reduce it.

Due to our love affair with corruption, a small pool of individuals controls a large part of our country.

It would be difficult to completely cut them off from society by convicting them – they provide basic needs that are now deeply rooted in most sectors; we don’t want to admit it, but we actually depend on them.

Today, corruption in Kenya has reached such a level of greed that people’s lives are on the line.

Funds that should buy medication and be used to put up clinics, land in an individual’s account. When money takes away humanity, the corruption monster becomes a cancer. Too much of anything is never good for you.

Nerima Wako- Ojiwa is executive director of Siasa Place. Twitter: @NerimaW