Psychology and Corruption: The East African Experience

The Justice Review, A Publication by the National Organisation for Legal Assistance, Vol.6, 2006, September-December 2007, pp.28-30, 2007

African Studies, 2020

This article presents comparative evidence about the relevance of behavioural drivers in relation to petty corruption in three East African countries. It discusses the potential to incorporate behavioural insights into anti-corruption policy-making. Persistently high levels of bureaucratic corruption prevail in many countries across the African continent. This along with the limited effectiveness of conventional anti-corruption prescriptions call for a contextualised understanding of the multiple factors determining corruption-related decision-making. Adopting a behavioural lens involves accounting for the human factor as it relates to the effects of sociality and social constructs on propensities for corruption. As such, this novel approach complements the literature that has sought to understand corruption on the basis of political, economic, and institutional drivers and constraints. Field research conducted in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda found evidence for such behavioural drivers, showing that citizens are swayed by social pressures and beliefs that ultimately spur petty corruption by endorsing associated maladaptive practices. Sustained by social norms of group solidarity and reciprocity and legitimised by commonly shared perceptions of corruption as the norm, the research points to a problematic overlap of the public (formal) and the socio-cultural (informal) spheres. By adding a behavioural dimension to the study of the drivers of corruption, this article seeks to contribute towards the development of more effective anti-corruption policy formulation that acknowledges the pitfalls attached to behavioural factors that conventional anti-corruption prescriptions have largely failed to address.

Corruption has always existed in different forms, and is not determined by politics or geography. It exists in rich and poor countries alike, it involves both individual States and international organizations and its costs are borne by the citizens. It affects the proper running of governments, distorts the correct functioning of economic and political institutions, and hampers transparency. While the manifestations of corruption are limitless, its roots seem to be identifiable in the immoderate inclination for material wealth and power. While wealth in the African traditional setting came along with the responsibility to promote the common good, today wealth seems to be an end in itself. It is a misdirected pursuit of happiness in wealth and power. Because of the many challenges that corruption brings to the society, it has become a cause of great concern today, not only to the church and the state, but also to the institutions of higher education.

Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, 2012

The author conducted a qualitative phenomenological study to identify and describe the challenges of government leaders with regard to addressing corrupt practices in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Tanzania. The author interviewed 12 senior government leaders to explore their perceptions on corrupt practices in sub-Saharan Africa. Interview data collected resulted in fi ve themes encompassing the need for change in education and behaviors among citizens, media freedom, government transparency, election reform, and global sanctions. The study fi ndings provide a fresh perspective on the challenges of corrupt practices particularly facing leaders in sub-Saharan Africa, which extend beyond the prevailing theories of corruption.

2019

The thesis is aimed at investigating the adverse effects of corruption in East Africa. The study focused on three countries namely: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania which formed the East Africa Community in 1999. The study used descriptive research design to examine the adverse effects of corruption in East Africa. A questionnaire structured with both open-ended and closed ended questions was the fundamental research instrument for data collection. A sample of 50 respondents representing Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania were selected to participate in the study. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The study established economic, social and political effects of corruption in East Africa. Economic effects of corruption included increased unemployment, higher taxation, unhealthy business environment, decrease in foreign investment and decreased household spending. The social effected were higher poverty levels, ethnicity, and emigration while political impacts of corruption were poor governance, impunity and stalled government projects.

History Compass, 2009

In order to succeed in minimizing corruption in the African countries, one must start by examining the nature of institutional arrangements in each country with a review to modifying them. This calls for the reconstruction and reconstitution of the post-colonial state through democratic constitution making to provide a new set of laws and institutions that reflects the values of each country's relevant stakeholders. Most of today's African countries have incentive structures, which actually encourage and enhance corruption. Increasing government intervention in the marketplace is not likely to reduce corruption as the evidence from more than 50 years of government attempts to control venality in Africa's public sectors shows. The most effective way to deal with corruption in Africa is to engage the people in comprehensive institutional reforms that modify existing incentives and produce new ones, which are capable of successfully inducing participants in both political and economic markets to undertake only activities that produce the outcomes desired by society. Thus, to cleanup corruption from the African economies, improve both productive and allocative efficiency, and generally enhance development, national leaders must engage their people in democratic institutional reforms to provide society with transparent, accountable, and participatory governance structures.

Corruption exists in all political jurisdictions globally, but it is believed to be more pronounced in transitional democracies especially African countries. Due to the extent of corruption in African countries, scholars and practitioners in the fields of public policy and development studies suggest that corruption has significantly undermined, and continues to undermine development on the continent. Using Africa as a case study and selected theoretical models, this paper views corruption as a transaction process and provides a model to explain how the transaction occurs between the actors involved. It also explores how corruption diminishes efforts towards the development of Africa, and proposes a comprehensive framework that can be adopted to curb the canker of corruption in Africa. The study adopted the content analysis technique within qualitative study. It thus, draws extensively on existing literature available in peer reviewed articles, conference and government reports, books and magazines. Among the key findings of the study are that; corruption is a two-way affair, which manifests in some sort of demand and supply. It was also found out that the prevalence of weak bureaucratic institutions and systems (context) and the manner of how transactions are conducted (process) all contribute to promotion of corruption in developing African countries. In order to address the problem of corruption, the study recommends the adoption of a holistic approach, which involves a strong political will to enforce law and order, strengthening state institutions to detect, expose and prosecute culprits irrespective of their status and political affiliation. The paper also suggests that bureaucratic and political elites should take the lead in fighting corruption by conducting themselves in a manner that will inspire trust and confidence in the entire political system. Keywords: Corruption, transaction, underdevelopment, developing countries, public sector