The Twin Evil of Corruption and Election Malpractice

Endemic corruption in Third World politics have been cited as one major factor responsible for the regions’ enduring poverty and underdevelopment. Several factors have been identified as contributing to corruption in Third World countries. Among these are the electoral and justice systems. The way and manner most of the leaders get into office is far from democratic. Their political foundation is faulty from the very beginning.

Most are aware that nobody elected them in the first place, so they don’t feel accountable to any one. Those in power in most of these countries simply view politics as business, and they do not hesitate to use their political offices to garner as much of the national wealth as they please. Accountability? They simply don’t feel accountable to anyone. Yes, mention is of the rule of law in government quarters, but no one is deceived by such rhetoric. The reality is that those who should be leading by examples are not playing by the rules, and this is not lost on ordinary citizens.

Corruption will only begin to reduce if certain measures are put in place. For one thing, political offices should be made less financially attractive, so that aspirants will quit seeing it as pure business ventures. Situations whereby politicians borrow massively in order to appease power brokers with the hope of ‘recouping’ their investment after elections do not augur well for democracy and probity in governance.

Also, People, especially politicians, should be made to live within their means. A politician who ordinarily should earn a couple of millions in a year should be made to account for a personal net worth running into billions, especially when there is no previous record indicating he inherited a fortune from anywhere. This also requires that the powers of office holders be put under checks; otherwise they will continue to fiddle with public finances with impunity. The police and the law courts should be adequately equipped to carry out their duties creditably. Those indicted should face full consequences.

This is one area most Third World countries are failing badly: in Nigeria, for example, of the numerous cases of corruption established against past ministers and governors during the regime of the immediate past president, not a single minister or governor is in jail right now! This is shocking, and cannot happen in advanced societies. It surely does not warn future office holders that corruption would attract severe consequences. It may actually embolden current and future political aspirants to do worse, as if telling them that corruption really does pay; nothing is ever going to happen.

It must be stated here that some Asian countries are doing better in this regard. In places like China and some Middle Eastern countries, convicted treasury looters are publicly executed to serve as deterrent to others. In fact, very often, such public figures take their own life the moment their misdeeds are brought to light; former president of South Korea committed suicide recently on the allegation that he used his office to substantially enrich close family members and political associates. No, I’m not eulogizing suicide or public executions. But the sense of personal responsibility and accountability behind such acts is precisely what most Third World countries need to cultivate to entertain any hope of taming corruption in government.

In addition to the above, election should be made credible in these countries. People’s votes should count, and should be counted. If people are truly allowed to elect those who govern them, they will surely not elect those who would not represent them well. They will not elect persons of questionable character to be in charge of their common wealth. How this can be achieved takes us to some of the recommendations of the Basic needs Theory.

The theory deals with the basic things that people need in order to live normal lives, such as food, shelter, water, health, education, freedom from ignorance, freedom from diseases, wants, torture, and oppression. In order words, this theory is based on liberation, self reliance, and popular participation. The total lack of basic human needs in most Third World countries is one reason most citizens are powerless in the face of political evils. In fact, in some cases, politicians take undue advantage of this situation by giving the people Greek gifts.

Further, for people to fight for their rights as this theory advocates, they need to first of all know those rights, especially their political rights. In the late 1980s the people of Romania collectively ousted an evil regime because they knew their political rights. The same thing happened in the Philippines, and even very recently in Thailand and Madagascar. In all these countries and many others too numerous to mention, governments were forced to vacate office (officials executed in some cases) because they were no longer representing the people.

There is a lot of political apathy and ignorance in most Third World countries. People ignorantly worship those in government, always willing to accept whatever treatment these met out to them. The average Nigerian, for example, believes that whatever token they get from government is actually a favor–as if the wealth originally belonged to government officials! Quite the contrary: The politicians are in charge of our common wealth. We own the wealth, so we are the ones doing them a favor by putting them in charge. But who will educate the masses? Certainly not a regime that is profiting from the peoples’ ignorance.

Perhaps Civil Liberty Organizations (CLOs) could help in educating the masses to insist on their basic human rights, such as the right to life and freedom from oppression. People should be encouraged to show keen interest in the political affairs of their countries, not by way of serving as thugs for political gladiators, but by insisting on the type of leaders that can guarantee the provision of their basic human needs. Those are among the recommendations of the Basic Needs theory. The theory also advocates the eradication of illiteracy and poverty. Educated people may be easy to lead, but they are hard to deceive. When the average citizen is educated, even the leaders themselves will feel uneasy. There is no doubt that our politicians are taking undue advantage of the fact that majority of the population are uneducated masses who do not know their right from their left.

Poverty too is another evil that is breeding corruption.. Because most persons in Third World countries are poor and hungry, they are often willing to accept peanuts from the politicians just to satisfy their most basic needs. They then look the other way as these rulers loot the treasury. There is no doubt that the eradication of poverty will help people to think more clearly. It will become easier for the citizenry to reject those ‘gifts’ that political parties often give them to shut their mouths and their minds.

In a nutshell, the provision of basic human needs will help in checking the twin evil of corruption and election malpractice. My reason here is that it is only after a people have satisfied their most basic needs that they can look a politician in the face and tell them the facts of life as it is. Only then can they reject the rice and umbrellas that politicians often use to blind the masses during elections. The moment elections become credible, corruption will have been reduced by over 80%. Most countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America will be the better for it.

By: Kenneth Jahzeal Agwu

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