You, I we are all corrupt !

I am disturbed today! In fact I am extremely disturbed and disgusted with myself because I am corrupt so says Transparency International (TI) in the Global Corruption Barometer report released recently. Kenya is at number four globally on the list, with only Sierra Leoneans, Liberians and Yemenis more corrupt than us!

The report says that I bribe the cops, I bribe my way at the Lands office, I bribe my parliamentarians, I bribe the headmaster to get my kids into schools as well as bribe the judges and magistrates who dispense justice. But is this really the case?

A recent case of a local MP in Nairobi nabbed red-handed topping up his Kshs. 1,000,000.00 plus salary with a bribe of Kshs. 100,000.00 is probably an indicator that the report is not too far off the mark as are cases of petty bribery that cause our rotund and portly police officers to assume the ‘Usain Bolt’ position when caught as they flee unsuccessfully, distended midriffs dancing a discombobulated jig, from the clutches of the anti-graft officers composed of swift, slim and trim graduands as hundreds of Kenyans become yet another damning statistic as they fall victim to yet another avoidable road accident as unwitting victims of corruption.

Who can forget the sad scenes of palatial mansions costing millions of shillings being demolished a couple of years ago and the hysterical wailing of those who were affected as they watched their life savings brought down by a bulldozer and who knew all along that they had cast iron title deeds in their hands victims of scheming and bribing of Lands Office staff or those languishing in prison in perpetual misery having been found guilty of non-existent offences their only crime being tried by corrupted judges and magistrates willing to sell justice to the highest bidders!

But why is there no hue and cry? Why is there no national uprising if we feel that we have been slandered? Is it because TI is right? Is it true that we are actually corrupt? You, I and all Kenyans have been branded with the branding iron of corruption and we should hang our heads in shame as we once again become the laughing stock of our neighbors!

Shame on us!!