20/04/2026
EFFICIENT INSTITUTIONS AND CORRUPTION
I think the single most debilitating issue in any society is corruption. How corruption is perceived and defined by members of a society is what ultimately determines that society’s progress in many aspects of its social life, economic advancement, spiritual health and appreciation of the natural environment.
There has been much progress in many respects because society’s progress is incremental in time. For example, urban population in Kenya has grown from around seven percent to thirty seven percent in 64 years reflecting urban growth with better social and economic amenities like electricity, piped water, better physical infrastructures in comparison with rural areas where wearing foot ware or shoes was significantly non-existent in the earlier times. Irony is that corruption also grows alongside society’s progress but not at the rate that society may desire. Corruption greatly mutes the rate of progress.
Corruption is fought by the society, governments, religious institutions and members of the society. However, all these institutions practice some level of corruption. Nobody want corruption, but it has persisted and grown to debilitating level.
I think the answer to fighting corruption lie in creating efficient institutions. Instead of forever ever creating institutions to fight corruption, we need to bring efficiency in institutions especially our political systems. How to do this should be our preoccupation instead.
