The curse of bribery in Africa

Friday, January 21, 2022 | 820 Views |

NAIROBI, KENYA - 2018/05/31: A protestor carries a placard as Kenyans protested in the streets of the capital city Nairobi. Protesters took to the streets to call on the government to arrest people involved in massive corruption scandals. In a recent scandal involving National Youth Service (NYS), the Kenyan government lost Ksh9 billion in dubious tender deals PIC: Allan Muturi/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Many studies on governance have consistently shown that the scourge of corruption imposes political, economic and social costs on societies where it is widespread and the costs are unequally distributed.

In the words of former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, “Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately diverting funds intended for development, undermining a government’s ability to provide basic services, and feeding inequality and injustice”. When it comes to bribery, empirical research in many African countries have also consistently found that the impoverished are more likely to pay bribes than those who are well off. Bribery is the act of offering someone money or something valuable in order to persuade them to do something for you.

This is very common both in private and public sector but it is within the public sector where the phenomenon of soliciting and paying bribes is very common and having some very harmful impact on the well-being of poor and desperate people of Africa.

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