Corruption is evil
For a while now, the Nairobi City Council has outfitted all its parking attendants with bright yellow vests, making them the most visible public employees in the city. In a fit of ambition, naivete or both, the council decided to stamp each vest with the slogan "Corruption is Evil" across the back.
You see this message in government buildings throughout the city, a signal that the government is serious about stamping out "kitu kidogo," the little bribes that people here dole out to their civil servants like nickels to the Salvation Army.
So I had to laugh the other day when I parked my car in front of my bank in a busy shopping district and went to pay an attendant. I handed her the exact change -- 70 shillings, a little more than $1 -- and she asked me how long I'd be parked there.
"Two minutes," I said.
"Then you just leave your car," she smiled, "and when you come back buy me a soda."
I must have seemed like a real square, but I said I'd prefer to pay the right amount and could she please write me the ticket like everyone else. She shook her pen at me. "Not working," she said.
Well, we tried, didn't we? So I parked my car at a discount, a poorly paid woman bought herself a Coke on a warm day, and Kenya's war on corruption suffered another in an endless series of setbacks.
Kusheo, I think we in the west are ignorant of the custom of the 'dash'.
If you were in NYC you'd buy the woman a soda, and thank her for watching the car. The corruption that's hurting Africa is when multinational corporations buy public officials for resources. Open up those corporate books or those secret Swiss Bank accounts. They still can't find the billions Mbtute stole, as millions die in the Congo, for coltan was the most desired mineral in the Congo. When the 2nd Congo War began in 1998, coltan was valued at $20 (U.S.) per pound. By the end of 2000, it was worth more than $200 (U.S.) per pound.
Prices soared due to skyrocketing demand from the electronics, defense, and aerospace industries. From 1998-2001, the U.S. was the world's top coltan importer. China, fueled by its role in manufacturing the electronics industry's components, became the largest coltan importer in 2002. Coltan was processed into its two component minerals (columbite and tantalite) and used heavily during the launch of the Sony Playstation and in the booming cell phone industry. More recently, these minerals are used in portable mp3 players like IPods and computers.
If you want to fight corruption; start at the top.
Posted by: buckeyelargo | December 26, 2007 at 10:50 PM