Corruption in Kenya
Corruption in Kenya
Article 3
Source/Reference: The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/kenya-corruption-and-terr_b_5505869.html
Vocabulary:
What is corruption? It is “dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (such
as government officials or police officers)” (Merriam Webster, 2014)
Kenya, Corruption, and Terrorism
Posted: 06/18/2014 10:37 am EDT Updated: 08/18/2014 5:59 am EDT
Shortly after Uhuru Kenyatta was el_____ed president of Kenya early last year, I published
an article pondering (wondering) whether his election and indictment (brought to court for
suspicion and trial) at the International Criminal Court would ultimately make the country
more isolated (on its own). At the time, Kenya was becoming increasingly important in the
regional fight against militant (armed) groups such as Al-Shabaab (Somali Islamic
'terrorists;), and a transit point for aid and goods to South S______, so the country's
potential to impact other states in the region was significant (important/large).
Given the subsequent (resulting) and ongoing terr______ attacks throughout the country,
Kenya has now become a lynchpin (very important part) in the fight against terrorism in the
re___on. The stakes are high because Al-__________ has become stronger, in spite of all
the resources devoted (focussed on) to fighting against it, and crosses the region's borders
with impunity (commiting crime but not being punished). The presence of endemic (very
widespread high levels) c_______tion is important here because it can impact a country's
ability to combat (fight) terrorism. K_____a has regrettably become a paradigm (a typical
example or pattern of something) for what can happen when corruption becomes so
ingrained (part of itself) in a nation that its sec______y forces are unable to effectively
(correctly) protect its people.
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Corruption in Kenya
Kenya is not the worst country in Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perceptions
Index. (TI is an NGO which fights corruption). It is rated 136 out of 177, on a par (similar
level) with Bangladesh and the Ivory C_______. But it is not far from one of the worst, and
is in a rotten neighb_______d, battling one of the most savage terrorist organizations on
the pla_______.
The vast majority of Kenya's people do not trust the police. Ninety percent of respondents
(people who answered the questionnaire/survey) in a 2011 TI survey in Kenya considered
sec_____y services to be either corrupt or extremely corrupt. It is widely believed that last
year's horrific attack on the Westgate shopping center was as prolonged as it was because
troops were busy looting (stealing goods from the shop) the place before ending the siege
(surrounding a building/city preventing any movement, e.g. The Siege of Troy).
An article in Foreign Policy magazine last month posed the question "Is East A______a’s
economic powerhouse becoming the continent’s newest lootocracy? (slang word coming
from the word 'loot')" The article reminds us that Kenya has a decades-long hi_____ry of
kleptocracy, (“a government or state in which those in power exploit national resources
and steal; rule by a thief or thieves”.) dating from British times, it is worth adding, and that
Kenya was actually the inspiration for the creation of TI. Following the frustration of a
former W____d Bank Director at seeing numerous Kenyan development programs
undermined by graft, he created TI to attempt to combat it.
It is bad enough, of course, that the Kenyan p_____le are denied a better state of
development and higher standard of living as a result of the institutionalized cor_______on
in the country. Now they are denied the right to live in a country free of terror. According to
the FP article, even the importation of e__ipment specifically designed to enable police to
identify suspects is subject to corruption. A $100 bribe (dishonestly persuade someone to
act in one's favour by a gift of mo_____y or other inducement) will get a terrorism suspect
out of jail. It is a sad state of affairs, to be sure.
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Corruption in Kenya
The government has generally done a poor job of hunting down terrorism suspects. Left
unanswered are qu_____ons about how military grade explosives often used in the attacks
are acquired in the first place. Could the mi______ry be involved? There is talk in Na____bi
that some of the recent terrorist attacks are actually the work of domestic political forces,
either seeking to make a st___nger case for more foreign anti-terrorism funding/money
(some of which will presumably 'disappear' upon arrival), or to attach blame to the
Pre____ent and his political party for pol__ical purposes. In his first comment on the
attacks this week in Lamu Province, Pres___ent Kenyatta denied they were the work of Al
Shabaab and instead blamed domestic forces for the atrocities (terrible events).
The result is that the depths of corruption in Kenyan society permit terrorism to potentially
threaten the very fabric (heart/soul) of the nation. Kenya is already 17th on the list of
Failed States Index -- sandwiched between Ni__ria and Niger. Number one on that list is
its neighbor, S____lia (home base for Al Shabaab); number four is another neighbor, South
Sudan (one of the world's newest nations, at war with its sister nation, Sudan); and next to
that is number nine, the Central A___ican Republic (currently imploding, and a magnet for
terrorist groups). In fact, Africa is the home of 15 of the top 20 failed or failing states on the
Index.
There is a very real risk that K_____a could become part of a swathe (group) of states -from Africa's east coast to West Africa -- that are effectively ungovernable (a government
will fail there), what I have dubbed (called) the 'African Confederation of Failed States'. It
may be argued that this is already the case. For ex_____le, despite its support from France
and the UN, the Central African Re__blic is in a state of anarchy (chaos). At issue now visà-vis Kenya is whether the country shifts from being a shield against Al Shabaab or a
potential base of operations. Given its porous (a sponge is porous for water) border with
Somalia, the group's base of operations already (de facto) includes parts of Kenya.
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Corruption in Kenya
So what does the fu__ure hold for a country in a bad neighborhood, unable to break free of
the disease of corruption and being infiltrated by a terrorist organization wreaking havoc
throughout the region? That de__ends on how effectively anti-te______ism assistance can
be integrated into Kenyan society, and how long such assistance will continue to flow to
the government. How effectively can the security forces deploy those assets, and to what
degree can the go_______ment become proactive, rather than reactive, about the problem.
Is that even possible? To date, regrettably, the security services have been relegated to
the role of firemen.
My best guess is that Kenya will con__inue to muddle (move badly/slowly) along as it has
for decades, failing to address the corruption issue in any meaningful way, and
squandering (destroying) the oppor___nity to become a genuine regional eco___mic
powerhouse. In the process, its people will endure even higher unemployment (currently at
40 percent) and crime rates, while the terr___sm threat continues to rise. Cri__e is out of
control. On a trip to Nairobi this week literally every person I spoke with - Kenyan or
foreigner -- had either been robbed, carjacked, or both.
Kenya is too important to fail. The go______ment knows it, and so donor governments. So
its dependence on for____n aid will also continue. Let us hope that Kenya does not
become part of the African Confederation of Failed States. As of now, there is just as
much chance that it will, as that it will not.
Daniel Wagner is CEO of Country Risk Solutions, senior advisor with Gnarus Advisors,
and author of the book Managing Country Risk.
Give one example of how corruption might happen in our school.
________________________________________________________________________________
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Corruption in Kenya
Give two causes of corruption in Kenya.
________________________________________________________________________________
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What is foreign aid?
________________________________________________________________________________
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What position is China ranked by Transparency International regarding corruption?
________________________________________________________________________________
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What does the writer suggest needs to be done to reduce corruption?
________________________________________________________________________________
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What does the reader suggest might be putting pressure on President Kenyatta?
________________________________________________________________________________
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