THE MAKING OF A CORRUPT GENERATION.
1) A generation is the period of time, usually considered to be about thirty years, that it takes for children to grow up and become adults and have children of their own. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/generation
2) Corruption is defined as dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (such as government officials or police officers). https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corruption
When contextualized within Uganda’s leadership setting, one can say that the incumbent leader has led the nation for a generation and counting since 1986. The word “corruption” indubitably rings many bells in our heads, for corruption walks on our streets, it is in our households, we breathe and live in it. Even as Uganda gets recognized for her fight against corruption, we MUST sit back and ask the following questions. 1. Can this generation unlearn the subliminally infused “corruption” from its subconscious mind? 2. Do we still have “social capital” to achieve the following; A) police each other concerning corruption B) develop prospective confidence in our established systems to fight corruption. In the wake of the recent corruption scandals, it is notably easy to point out 1 or 2 mega projects that have been messed up for example Akibua Stadium, Katosi & Tirinyi Road Projects among others. When did we get to this level of acquiescing to corruption itself? Could it be that we have deliberately given up on the moral principle of doing the right thing? Why doesn’t shock us any more to learn of any corruption scandal and why has the citizenry lost the zeal to hold their leaders accountable? To understand these questions, we must appreciate the role of human behavior in all this. What motivates us to behave the way we do?
Is it the case that we behave correctly because we live in the shadow of undesirable consequences if we behave otherwise? Can a society, no matter how benevolent, exercise justice – even as far as fairness is concerned, without any fear for rapacious consequences for bad behavior? I don’t know such an egalitarian society and therefore look forward to learning about one.
The point is we can’t expect good behavior without thinking about operant conditioning. There must be a deterrent to thwart bad behavior. Strong systems – for governments, to check anomalies within the operations of government business. It is undisputed that nations are built on Sacrifice (sweat and sometimes blood); as hard as it may be to take in, hold your thought and think scholarly about how nations are born. Without sacrifice and discipline, very little can be accomplished. Jim Rohn in one his seminars, describes success as “a few simple disciplines practiced every day”. I agree to his proposition because, only God can create something of value out of nothing. There’s limited human achievement without sacrifice and effort.
30+ years of subliminal condoning of corruption has done us more harm than good. It can be argued that the generation dating way back from 1986 has lived in an era that has acquiesced misappropriation, even in the least expected places. As a result, we have almost become children of corruption not by choice but by circumstance. We think and feel helpless in the face of corruption, partly because we do not know any better…for we almost have nothing, to extrapolate our fight against the vice.
How is the office of the inspectorate of government, which was initially established by the Inspector General of Government (IGG) statute in 1988 supposed to be judged? Is it the case that our inspectorate has not been backed up by tough legislation? What an insurmountable task for the next administration to uproot a deeply seated attitude of acquiescing corruption, in bid to clean our society up. It is widely appreciated that if happens once it is a mistake, if it happens for the second time it is a choice and if it happens for the third time, it is a pattern. Within our context, the case of acquiescing to corruption has happened more than 3 times, it is indubitably a deeply seated behavior.
While the making of a corrupt generation might have unintentionally happened over time, transforming of a corrupt society into an accountable one will have to be intentional and take a heavy mounting of pressure to achieve.
