Taming corruption needs top-down approach

Editor, RE: “Corruptocracy: One govt’s courage to tame the vice” (The New Times) First, why do you call that policeman Joe and not Kamau, Mukasa, Mwinyi...if you want us to understand what you are writing about? Second, in your example, why don’t you use shillings, or francs instead of dollars? I personally have issue with Africans who are part-time Africans even when they have never stepped out of the continent. Third, why do you still think that media companies such as BCC or even CNN deserve to be quoted as the truth tellers? Those mainstream media companies ceased to be truth tellers long time ago and are now more corrupt more than anything corrupt you may have heard of. So, please do not quote them especially if they are criticising anything from Africa. You are also pausing the following question, “How do you change the corrupt officers’ ways if they spent their entire career doing little else but extracting bribes?” Those officers can spend their career extracting bribes only if corruption is tolerated at the top. Rwanda’s success in combating corruption was possible because the authority at the top was incorruptible. In fact, those policemen and women you are referring to (from a country you have not mentioned) should not be the first people to be blamed. If you are a corrupt leader, corruption will trickle down to the lowest person who holds authority, and those with no authority will be spontaneously recruited to be part of the entire corrupt chain. Sendi

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Taming corruption needs top-down approach