Most people realize that there is corruption in almost every country in the world. However, the same people know that certain countries like Africa have more corruption than other countries.
For example, we all know that there is corruption in the United States of America. Many civil rights activists complain that the police make a crime out of “driving while black”. In Africa however, the same crime would be called simply “driving”.
The difference between the two countries is that in Africa there is no discrimination. A police officer can stop motorists for any flimsy pretext with the hope of having the motorist pay him a bribe. Most motorists in Kenya for example never end up in court because they pay the fine to the officer who gave them the ticket. Therefore, if you decide to drive a vehicle in Kenya be prepared to pay a few thousand shillings for a wrong turn, a broken rear taillight, or for running a red light
Most motorists are happy to pay the few thousand Kenyan shillings, about $30, to avoid going to court. It is interesting to note that in Nairobi there are many bookshops that are selling miniature copies of the Kenyan Highway Code. This book is proving to be handy when being harassed by a police officer. Many drivers are keeping a copy in their glovebox and pulling it out to defend themselves against wrongful charges.
This type of corruption is obviously a nuisance for everyone including the rich but it can make living in Kenya extremely miserable for the average Joe. This is just one example of corruption in Africa. If you want your children to go to a better school, if you need permission to build on your own land, if you want to start a new business, then you will be required to pay someone off. Unfortunately, for newly developing African countries this can cause tremendous hardship on the economy.
Obviously, there is a lot of injustice as the rich are able to buy themselves out of any criminal conviction while the poor receive harsh sentences and treatment. This injustice is very difficult to correct because it is hard to convict the responsible parties who have high positions in either government or business. Recently, a European-based organization tried to run a survey in 28 of the sub-Saharan African countries.
The survey showed that on an average 22% of all Africans who made contact with the public service admitted to paying a bribe within the last year. In one African country, Liberia, the percentage was 69%. The two more stable African economies of Kenya and Nigeria had a 37% and 43% figure. South Africa had an incredibly high rate of 83%. The majority of respondents to the survey suggested that in their opinion corruption was getting worse each and every year.
It should be noted however that Botswana and Mauritius had only if 1% rating. This is a comparable rating to most of the developed countries in the world. As you can see, corruption in Africa is out of control in certain countries and hopefully in the future we will see an improvement.