By Bernard Bwoni
The extent of the corruption plague in Zimbabwe is not only breathtaking,
but depressing, disheartening and disappointing even to the most patriotic. It would
be interesting to find out the amount in billions this self-serving scourge has
cost the country so far. The problem with corruption and letting corrupt
practices go without reproach and unpunished is that it erodes trust people
have in those in power and drains the much needed resources to revive the
ailing Zimbabwe economy. The problem is that we are targeting only the physical
symptoms of corruption and leaving out the real root of the evil, immorality.
It is the simple things that matter to people and it is the simplest of gestures
that endears leaderships to the electorate. The electorate is an unforgiving
bunch and their frustrated outcries must never be ignored. All elected officials
must give precedence to an unswerving commitment to corrupt-free practices and
making things simple for those who voted them into power. There must be a
political commitment and a bona fide will to rooting out corruption and that is
the only starting point. The sluggish response to the recent sleaze and salary
scandals was not at all reassuring and reflective of that will and commitment
to eradicating corruption but the fact that it is being exposed is a positive
starting point which must be genuine and gimmick-free.
Corruption is individually
rational but socially inefficient and untenable. In Zimbabwe things are not
going to change overnight because too many people have benefitted from
corruption and its intended or unintended outcomes and fight they will to preserve
the gains. A US$37,000 per month salary is worth preserving and so are millions
of dollars obtained from corrupt practices. It is not only those in positions
of authority who have benefited but a
great many ordinary citizens of this great country have fallen prey to the
corruption snare.
Self-control is critical in every facet of our lives as it regulates our behaviours
to lower negative outcomes. Self-control predicts positive outcomes and a lack
of self-control predicts negative outcomes. Some researchers have argued that
high IQ populations have less corruption than those with low IQ and I think that
is just trying to excuse an immorality. It is more about morals, that inner
deep-rooted willingness to do the morally acceptable and what is right and that
has nothing to do with intelligence. Poverty combined with a lack of morals and
self-control is a corruption-thick brew with both individual and nation-destroying
consequences. In Zimbabwe it seems the corrupt ones are in fact the
‘intelligent ones’, the CEOs and the executives whilst the poverty-stricken
‘unintelligent’ ordinary citizens eke out a destitute but honest and
corrupt-free living as evidenced by the recent salary scandals.
Corruption is inexcusable whichever way you look at it or whichever form it
manifests itself. However all efforts to root out corruption have been proving futile.
Psychologists have pointed to delay discounting as an important indicator of
self-control. There is an interesting research paper by Shamosh and Gray
entitled ‘Delay discounting and intelligence: A meta-analysis’ which defines delay discounting as a tendency to prefer
smaller, sooner rewards to larger, later rewards. Delay discounting requires an
individual to make choices between two rewards that vary in both amount and
delay with receipt. An example would be ‘Would you prefer to receive US$500 now
or US$1500 in the next 28 days?’ Individuals who tend to prefer the smaller of
the two rewards are considered to demonstrate greater delay discounting. Thus
the greater delay discounting reflects lower levels of self-control or a
preference for the immediate rewards.
Corruption is indicative of a lack of self-control, an uncontrollable desire
for immediacy in terms of rewards. How can one justify a salary of US$230,000
per month in a country like Zimbabwe surely? I am not for one second suggesting
the CEO is corrupt in this instance as this salary might have been agreed by a
board but any individual with a moral compass or a degree of self-control would
stop and reflect on the obscenity of what he or she was earning whilst others
were going months on end unpaid. Any individual with a level of self-control
would want national growth as opposed individual gratification surely?
There is a recent EU report which indicated that corruption has been costing
the European Union economy €120 billion annually and efforts to tackle the
practices have proved just as difficult as elsewhere in the world. What is
interesting to note from the EU corruption is the divide of the problem, with
the well-off countries such as the UK, the Scandinavian countries, German and
other affluent west European nations having less of the problem whereas the
P.I.G.S of the EU have seen a surge in corrupt practices as their economies
continue to struggle. P.I.G.S refers to the struggling countries in the EU and
stands for Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain. Thus poverty can arguably be seen
as an integral indicator of corruption. There is a negative and immediate
relationship between corruption and lack of control and this seems directly
linked to poverty in the EU instance. As these nations’ economies continue to
decline corruption has also increased. Individual tendencies to prefer smaller,
sooner rewards to larger, later rewards are associated with lack of
self-control which regulates our behaviours.
People
are rational but then rationality is a matter of choice and the alternatives
which society and nature offers individuals. Society is governed by a code of
ethics and morals and every man and woman live by these standards. An
intelligent man and a poor man are equally governed by the same code of ethics
that define each and every society. Each and every individual is responsible
for his or her actions and answerable to their respective societies. Trying to
justify corruption and corrupt practices is not only offensive but unethical. Corruption has nothing to
do with poverty or intelligence or lack of it, but just a lack of morals and self-control.
It
is pointless to target the physical symptoms of corruption alone without
addressing the morality and the psychological issues of self-control because
corruption will just manifests itself in even more clever and enhanced forms.
All corruption fighting bodies are already compromised by virtue of being
manned by man. Every man is corruptible. The only way to tackle corruption is
to address morality first!
Bernard Bwoni can be
contacted on bernardbwn@aol.com/ http://www.bernardbwoni.blogspot.co.uk/
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