Many African countries are grumbling with the issue of corruption that is almost becoming an acceptable norm for wealth accumulation as all the would-be safety nets have been eroded.
In simple terms corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal activity undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire illicit benefit, or, abuse of entrusted power for one’s private gain.
Among the most common causes of corruption on our continent are the ill political and economic environment, professional ethics and morality and, of course, habits, eroded value systems, customs, tradition, and demography.
Where corruption inflates the cost of business, it also distorts the field of inquiry and action, shielding firms with connections from competition and thereby sustaining inefficiency.
With corruption, the entire society is affected as a result of the inefficient allocation of resources, the presence of a shadow economy, and low-quality education and healthcare. Corruption thus makes these societies worse off and lowers the living standards of most of their populations.
It is also no secret that many attempts have been made to prevent corruption or minimize its effects on society, however, we also need to reflect and set off an anti-corruption campaign starting with Basic Christian values, and preaching “Ubuntu” among youth and children to create a new critical mass of a corrupt-free generation. Incidentally, corruption has also become normal within the Church institution itself and it manifests itself in a number of ways by the “men of God”.
And corruption thrived in a society whose value systems are sick and broken, with this much corruption, we can only conclude that the body value is simply rotten to the bones, and by the time the heart gets rotten, the whole body is dead already.
Because getting sick even without a rot is quite discomforting. Then, we seek the cure, and in the unfortunate event that one is wounded, carrying a bandage on any part of the body is bothersome. It is also more bothersome if the wound is a result of surgery. We also know that for medics to opt for major surgery, they would have considered in totality that there is no alternative to undergoing an operation. And in all this, we seek solutions that can help eliminate the cause of the sickness, without forgetting that rotting is a state of decomposing. The image of a rotting heart signifies a human being who is dead, so the rampant corruption amidst us signifies our rotting social norms and values.
We need the prophecy of Prophet Ezekiel, which reminds us of how we have become a valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14). Otherwise how do you explain the acceptance of corruption and other social evils in our society, if we are not morally rotten and remain with no flesh but bones; when we lose our much-cherished values of “Ubuntu” that made us Africans, we lose our heart, yet it’s evident that no one can live without a heart. Rot in the heart means the existence of a scar at the engine that pumps life into the rest of the body, and this seems to be our ailment. But a heart surgery is no mean operation even by highly ranked experts.
If corruption is indeed a rot in the heart, what must be the symptoms? The symptom is the loss of sense of what is right. Which means, the more the heart rots the more conscience decays. The more conscience decays the more corruption grows. The bigger the rot, the bigger the corruption. A person who suffers a rot in the heart will not realize that corruption is a disease because already such a person is sick. Often, a mad person does not know that certain actions are injurious to self and to others. For such a person, any action contemplated can be executed. And he sees the rest as mad, save for himself. And what remains is the bones as in the book of prophet Ezekiel (37:1-14).
We all know how corruption has permeated the life of an African, the Christians in the African Church, the systems of the governance and our countries. We are also aware how the rot of corruption has permeated the veins of every African Country, its leaders at every level, and with it the general society, the best we can do is to excuse ourselves saying “the whole world is like that” but we are not the whole world, we are Africa. Our veins supply African blood to the continental body from a heart with a rot.
It is us the cradle of humanity and should in the same vein be the last to be diluted by immorality and eroded values, we should be the beacon of hope like it has always been, Joseph ran to Africa, Moses was from Africa , Jesus ran to Africa as a kid for refuge, we have always been a second heaven to humanity, how we lost this position only God has the answer, however, I believe it’s never too late, we can reclaim our position and provide a lasting solution to corruption in all its manifestation.
The question to ask at this point is this: why don’t we, individually and collectively, seek medical attention to rid of the rot in our African heart so that we can be the best unique good example for the rest of humanity? As a continent, we need to be removing our shoes when reading and sharing the Word of God as a sign of repentance and sign in our hearts that we all agree openly to make a stand against corruption. We have had enough talking, now we need spiritual and physical action. All African leaders and especially business people and politicians who have filled pockets with wrong funds need to do Africa a favor and say enough is enough with the rot of our hearts and then start straight away to stand on our feet away from corruption.
The church and its leaders should be leading the way not partaking the loot, most corrupt Christian Africans are good at giving donations to the Church as a form of repentance and we will give them a big Amen and physical praises. This is not the way, to deal with our sick heart, you don’t smear Vaseline on a rotting wound and expect it to heal, you give it proper medication, corruption can only be eliminated by sending a strong message to the culprit, and prayer alone may not even be enough in this regard.
Even the good holy book verses tell us in John (10:10) that God wants us to have life in fullness, but this is not through wrong and ill-gotten wealth. No Christian or person of seeming goodwill is allowed to feed the heart of the Church with what could be a corruption virus, church leaders shouldn’t be focusing on fatty heavy tithe and offertories given by these corrupt individuals as this infests the institution with a corruption virus and the whole congregation.
The body of Christ also is corrupting people, by manipulating them to give as much since their blessings will depend on how much is given, but the good book urges us to give because we are willing to, and not because we are spiritually manipulated to, so as to get more blessings, this kind of manipulation by “men of God” sends more people into the corruption net so as to accumulate much and bring as much for more blessings.
Of course, the corrupt will want us to believe that fellow Africans and Christians alike are just good at smearing rich persons with all kinds of dirt. But the truth remains that we know how corrupt they are and how they corrupt everyone else along the way including men of God. On many occasions, politicians and corrupt rich people ‘after running around facing all sorts of hostilities and extorting from the public out there, they run to the House of God to find solace’. Regrettably, that space also turns out to be a forum for someone to solicit for falsely justified funds, and manipulate the same in giving more to be blessed more.
It is our turn as Africans to accept what right and reminding ourselves that we should be doing things that we know in our heart of hearts we wouldn’t want to do. Time is now to heal our hearts, except for those whose hearts have totally been damaged to the extent that they have already been replaced with rocks so that they no longer feel and pump. These hearts do not want to seek medical care because they are already accustomed to manipulating people to give or receive money for morally unjustified ends. What I know is that most Africans and including the moneyed ones want to live an honest straight forward life, not hurting others and doing what they have to do without having to worry about the monies to dish out for founded and unfounded requests.
The message is simple and clear; Africans, refuse without guilty to be used by unscrupulous money dashers as duty napkins. All of us have to protect one another from acquiring the “rot of the heart”. Fighting corruption by applying the Ubuntu concept and the True Word of God from the Holy Bible is the remaining way to make Africa safe for all. Africa must be safe from disease, ignorance, bad politics, starvation, poverty, human trafficking, wars, fundamentalism, domestic and gender violence; religious manipulation, terrorisms, joblessness, and low self-esteem but only after we have declared that enough is enough with corruption. Let us stand together to fight corruption and if we are determined we shall manage, our forefathers did it and so can we – make Africa great again.
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