By NERIMA WAKO-OJIWA

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Corruption has been compared to cancer with some calling it a mental problem while others say it is part of Kenyans’ culture.

Graft is in the headlines almost daily, and there was a time when it was one scandal after another in state agencies. It is also rife in the private sector.

When did the rain start beating us? Or has it always been raining? What is happening is graft was not open or rampant like now.

Perhaps information is shared more about the amount of blatant stealing that occurs when it comes to public finances.

Presidents have come and gone, all calling out this menace and promising to slay it. Yet, graft is still with us, and entrenched even deeper down to the county level and villages.

STATE AGENCY

Corruption is a major concern in Kenya leading to the establishment of institutions to curb it. Once speaking to a foreigner, he found it amusing that we have departments in every state agency to fight the vice and also a fully-fledged state-funded independent institution - Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

Even with the establishment of Integrity Clubs by the EACC, the government is grappling with ways to engage young people when it comes to the fight against corruption. Yet, young people still do not have confidence in EACC.

As the spread of the coronavirus continues to rise, county governments have received budgetary allocations for the National Treasury but their expenditure is questionable.

Some expenditure reports indicate that money went toward building water points, only audits to reveal the information to be false.

Only about half of that number have been built, and half contain water.

RECOVER MONEY

In 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his then Swiss counterpart Alain Berset signed the Framework for the Return of Assets from Corruption and Crime in Kenya, which is a mechanism to recover money swindled from state coffers by corrupt individuals hidden in Switzerland.

After the signing of the agreement there was a glimmer of hope, but a report launched this year showed that Kenya is one of the top three countries sending funds to foreign accounts.

As anti-graft crusaders ponder on how to enlighten youth, so that they do not engage in corruption and educate them on values and ethics, would teaching ethics at a tender age help in curbing corruption in the country? Especially when youth witness individuals flout the law and get away with it?

Why would one work hard and do things the right way, when there is no sign of reward or encouragement?

Nerima Wako-Ojiwa, executive director, Siasa Place @NerimaW