Prosperity and Corruption in Kenya

1048 Words5 Pages
Many in Kenya see corruption as the main obstacle to prosperity. According to a recently presented survey, the majority of Kenyans felt that anti-corruption work was ineffective. The quality of a country’s public administration is the most decisive factor for prosperity. So, why are certain societies more successful than others? Strong and determined leaders may have the necessary policies and tools to fight corruption, but they usually do not have incentives to do so, as they often are benefitting from it. A corrupt system cannot be changed from below, only from above as in Sweden, Singapore, Hong Kong and now, perhaps, Rwanda. So, if the fish rots from the head down, what is Kenya going to do? Many in Kenya see corruption as the main obstacle to prosperity. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) recently presented a survey in which the majority of Kenyans felt that the anti-corruption work was ineffective. It is, and this should not come as a surprise. However, it is surprising that only about three per cent indicated that “streamlined ministries” were an effective way of fighting corruption. Answers you get in a survey should be regarded with a certain amount of scepticism, as the respondents interpret the questions differently and answers can therefore be ambiguous. Why? Because ”streamlined ministries” covers only a fraction of the concept of a more efficient public administration, or ‘the quality of government’. The quality of a country’s public administration is the most decisive factor that can make a country prosperous, not whether they are streamlined or not. So, why are certain societies more successful than others? The Quality of Government Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has carried out studies on the issue for a decade and has come up with some surprising conclusions, valid for Kenya as well as for
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