Are We Losing Our Fight Against Corruption?

Many students hate examination. Or should I rather say they fear it? Well, some people argue that students who are well prepared should not fear examinations. But what about anxiety? Can we rule out that one too? In fact, no matter how prepared you are for an examination, you are likely to be anxious since you could not tell the exact questions to be asked. (Unless you had prior knowledge or what is termed appor. Even that, I believe, there would still be some degree of uncertainty) There are some specific “problematic topics” which students pray against and wish questions are never set on them. Their blood pressures therefore rise and they sweat profusely in the exam room when they meet such questions. Their woes are deepened when such questions are made compulsory.

I would like those of us who have not written any examinations for a long time to try our hands on a question in the next two minutes. I hope we are ready. This confirms what I just said. Some people are already jittery on hearing the word “exams”. I think it is proper, first of all, to know the rules of the exams. Rule number one: We should all try as much as possible to do an independent and transparent work – No “copying” and no cheating. Rule number two: There is no time limit for the exams. You could use the whole day or month to answer the question. Finally, the answer should be submitted to you, marked and graded by yourself. The question is very simple: “To the best of your memory, have you been involved in ANY FORM of corrupt practice(s), for the past five or as many years that you could remember?. Write “NO” if you are innocent and “YES” if you are guilty. “NO IDEA” answers are unacceptable. (Please note that “NO” means Pass and “YES” means Fail. Candidates are kindly advised to carefully think and reflect on ALL ASPECTS of their lives before answering the question.

It is important to remember that in every examination, there are two possibilities: Success or Failure. In view of the fact that everybody marked and graded his/her our own work, it would be difficult for me to comment on individual performances. However, I could guess that many of us, if not most of us have failed this simple but thought-provoking test of incorruptibility.

If my guess is right (that many of us have failed) then corruption is indeed prevalent among us and all the necessary weapons should be marshaled to combat it. However, as war strategists, we should not forget about the strengths and weaknesses of our enemy. Let us remember that the “guy” (corruption) is very smart and experienced. In fact, he is able to use his sticky hands to catch all manner of people including the clergy, politicians, employers, employees and students. It would not have been too difficult uprooting corruption if its roots were fibrous. Unfortunately, it has a long tap root which is hundreds of feet down the soil.

Some people give various reasons to justify corruption. To some, if you remain honest, sincere and genuine in your dealings, those who are “fast’ (corrupt) would get whatever they want and leave you behind. Consequently, they use all kinds of means to get whatever they want. But the truth of the matter is that no reason should be given to justify corruption in any form. It is sad that instead of frowning upon the act, some of us hold the culprits in high esteem and give them all kinds of appellations without questioning their source(s) of wealth. Well, may be we are not able to call a spade a spade because those of us who are expected to do so are living in glass houses hence we are scared to throw the stones. In fact, knowing the different types of skeletons that we have in our cupboards, we dare not cough “eh!-eh!” otherwise our skeletons will be exposed. The best thing to do therefore is to keep mute.

It would, however, be unfair to say or suggest that no efforts are being made to eliminate or minimize corruption. The media, both print and electronic are never silent on corrupt practices. Religious leaders keep drumming the subject into the ears of their followers. Several workshops and seminars have been held on corruption. We have copious publications on the subject. Commissions and institutions have been set up to address issues bothering on it. In fact, the government of the day has even set a standard to measure the level at which corruption should be tolerated-zero level

The question therefore is: Why is the “disease” still proving stubborn despite the above and other forms of “medications”? Could it be that the drugs being administered to prevent and cure it are not potent enough?

It is really a pity to be unhealthy. I will never forget the day I was down with malaria. I experienced severe pains all over my body. I became very weak since I lost appetite for food and could not eat. All my personal appointments and programs were also disorganized. There seemed to be no improvement in my condition of health in spite of all the medical treatment I received. I therefore went and reported back to my doctor. After further tests and examinations, he asked me to discontinue taking a particular drug that he gave me earlier and added some new ones for me to take. Thank God I recovered in no time.

My point is, as we continue to administer all the medicines that I talked about earlier to prevent and cure this aged disease, yet more and more people are being infested on daily basis, would it not be better if we consider other options? It is on this note that I strongly recommend good record-keeping, a powerful pill, which many patients (countries) are using to prevent the disease of corruption. Of course, I am not suggesting that we should abandon or stop taking our earlier drugs. We should however use our new-found medicine as a supplement.

I believe some people may not understand how record-keeping could be used to check corruption. The fact is, by keeping good records, it would be easy to tell who did what, when, how, and where. Consequently, people would be mindful of their actions, knowing that, they could be exposed by the relevant documents should they be involved in any dubious activities.

One of the major breeding grounds for corruption is the employment of “ghosts” at workplaces. This results in huge sums of monies being siphoned at great loss to the state. Such a practice could be prevented, for instance, by keeping proper records.

There are instances where persons suspected to be involved in corrupt practices are left off the hook and escape justice with ease. The reason? NO EVIDENCE! Of course, it is difficult to charge somebody with an offence without evidence. This explains why we should learn to keep proper records on every event and activity. By doing so we would make it difficult for such culprits to go scot-free.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: How serious are we with records management? Letters, memos, etc could not be traced in offices. Very important files could not be found. Of course, what do we expect if the records are dumped haphazardly on the floor, under stair cases and in abandoned store rooms?

Let us remember that records management is the backbone of development. In this regard, I would like to suggest to all organizations, companies and institutions to make good use of the numerous archivists that we have in the country to manage their records for them professionally.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.