Corruption in Kenya my thoughts.
Lately, they have been a ‘war on corruption’ I put it in quotes because I disagree with the premise that corruption is being fought and the actual war on it is ongoing.
The term war on corruption implies that victory is anticipated, that the war on corruption would come to an end since all wars do come to an end. This idea is ludicrous since no one individual or institution has come out clearly and stated the goals and objectives of this war or the timelines that this would be achieved. To get a clear insight on how former government war declarations on social behaviors that are deemed problematic let us look at two examples the war on drugs and the war on terror.
In 1979 President Ronald Reagan declared war on drugs in America and stated that drugs were America’s public enemy number one. After this announcement, America went on a recruitment drive to engage other countries in the united nations to join them in the fight against narcotics. Over half a century later the verdict is in, the war on drugs has had a cost of 1 trillion dollars on the American taxpayer it led to the rise in the incarceration rate for non-violent offenders from 40,000 in 1980 to 400,000 in 1997. It has had a success rate of 10% reduction in drugs entering America per year. In fact, more drugs enter America now compared to the 1980s (https://www.monarchshores.com/drug-addiction/how-much-does-the-war-on-drugs-cost) so it has been a total disaster with no clear goal or objective just ballooning public spending on the DEA and the FBI. ( https://drugabuse.com/statistics-data/drug-trafficking/)
After the 9/11 attacks in the united states, the then US President George Bush Jr declared the war on terror and continued to invade Afghanistan and Iraq their after with the stated goal of eliminating international terror. Thousands of lives, 6 trillion dollars ( https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/war-terrors-total-cost-5900000000000-41307), the massive refugee crisis in Europe the world is more dangerous than it was before 9/11. They are more terrorist and they are more widespread. The united states government has pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into Afghanistan yet it remains one of the poorest counties in the world with poverty rates of close to 60%( http://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/latest-poverty-numbers-afghanistan-call-action-not-reason-despair). It also has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world and is a major heroin hub.
As can be seen one of the most powerful nations on earth has had a problem with its own declared wars in complex issues of society. Coming back to home eradicating corruption has been a tight rope to walk on. with legal loopholes, tribal affiliations.