Leaders have normalised public theft

Theft or plunder of public resources doesn’t take place in a vacuum. For the vice to succeed, there needs to be a system in place that makes it possible.

This is why countries that realised how deep theft gets rooted had to put together alternate systems for structural accountability.

For example, the four pillars of Singapore’s anti-corruption strategy rose from the strong foundation of the political will to weed out corruption wherever it may occur – effective laws, an independent judiciary, effective enforcement and a responsive public service.

These pillars can be borrowed and incorporated into Kenya’s management of corruption. The Kemsa scandal resurfaced with new information linking politicians.

We need to clear out some things regarding the theft of Covid-19 funds and protective gear in Kenya before we can talk about the culture of systemic theft that Kenyan leaders have enabled and should take full responsibility for.

One of these things is that a majority of Kenyans weren’t surprised that those responsible for people’s health and wellbeing chose profit over lives.

Endless blame games

In addition, the overused script of “we are conducting investigations” when investigations hardly lead anywhere, followed by endless blame games, is already too predictable. And because we already know how grand theft is mishandled, it’s time our leaders stopped paying lip service and did the difficult but right thing.

By this I mean leaders should stop behaving as if this is the first grand theft and instead realise the vice persists because of their inaction, tolerance and lack of political will. Furthermore, leaders lamenting about theft like everyone else is not why they were elected.

The fact that theft can happen so casually says more about the leadership than the thieves because people only do what they know they can get away with.

What leaders should do is invoke legal processes and support procedures that strengthen the rule of law without sideshows.

Politicising theft

Secondly, leaders should refrain from politicising theft because this dilutes the magnitude of the crime. Charging high-profile suspects is, therefore, not an attack on their political agenda or political party.

 If we are to be honest, the scandal at Kemsa is no different from what happened with NYS in 2018, Uwezo Fund, Afya House scandal and many others that have come and gone without tangible consequences.

The perpetrators may be new but their tactics are the same, and that is because the current crop of leaders has politicised grand theft and perpetually allowed Kenya to be a country where theft is acceptable.

Perpetrators of high-level crime, who by themselves are already high-profile individuals, not only get away with crime, but are sometimes rewarded with appointments.

It is for these reasons the Kemsa scandal happened – singularly because the ecosystem within which Kenya operates encourages high-level crime to thrive.

And also that the people who shape and nurture this ecosystem refuse to do right even during a global health crisis.

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