By Mohamed Daramy
Corruption is endemic sociological occurrences that appear regularly in virtually all countries on a global scale in varying degrees and proportions. Corruption according to Wikipedia is a form of dishonesty or criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one’s gain. The impact of corruption in any country hurts everyone. It also goes beyond corrupt individuals to innocent civilians who may be implicated, or the reputation of their organization. Ultimately, innocent civilians are the ones who lose out from the misuse of power or public funds. Corruption erodes the trust people hold in public sector to act in our best interests. It wastes taxes and rates meant for important community projects. As a result, this can lead to poor quality services or infrastructure, or projects never getting off the ground.
Before we talk about how we can combat corruption, let’s talk about the causes of corruption, it’s impact on a country and the possible solutions in combating corruption.
To start with, everyone can help prevent corruption. If you are a public sector employee, government supplier or a member of the public, you can learn about it and take action to prevent it. However, the concept lack of transparency which many people consider that can lead to corruption is not the only variable, other variable like “morality” or integrity has been introduced by others. The moral dimension that refers to a “mentality problem,” and an extrinsic component referring to circumstances like poverty, inadequate remuneration, inappropriate work conditions and over-complicated procedures which demoralize people and let them search for “alternatives” solutions. The following factors have been attributed as causes of corruption: Greed of money, desire; low levels of democracy weak civil participation and low political transparency, gender inequality, unemployment, poverty, political instability, lack of commitment to society and many more.
In addition, corruption can have a range of negative impacts on society including political, social, and economic consequences. A strong connection has been demonstrated between corruption and increasing level of poverty and income inequality. Uneven distribution of wealth is also one of important impact. Corrupt economic are characterized by significant divergence between the living standards of the upper class and lower class. Because most of the country’s capital is in the hands of people who back corrupted public officials, most of the created wealth also flows to these individuals. Also, corruption decreases foreign investment by increasing the risk of doing business in a country and undermining the credibility of government institutions. Corruption results in lower economic growth because investment is significantly affected by the level of uncertainty in the business environment. In corrupt economy, businessmen are often made aware that front bribe is required before an enterprise can be established.
Conclusively, in combating corruption in a country, people should start by informing themselves about what corruption is and the role of the Anti-Corruption Commission in fighting the mayhem. The people should also learn how to spot the weaknesses that make corruption more likely and the red flags it’s happening. They should be informed about the impact of corruption across all sectors.
Anti-Corruption Commission and its partners should help raise awareness of the risks that come with corruption and encourage people to report corruption in their communities or workplaces. Similar to many other forms of crime, the use of penalties and punishments has historically been a primary means of preventing corruption. Essentially, the risk of facing severe punishment is intended to deter individuals from engaging in corrupt acts.
