Perception of bribery as means to success corrupting morals

It is painful to imagine that some adult somewhere consciously contemplates bribing young people to vote in a preferred manner. Yes, candidates need votes. But for what do they want the votes? To be leaders, I guess. In the ongoing campaigns, they want to be leaders who have executive or legislative powers. They want to be not only social transformation agents but also models for our young people. They proclaim from rooftops how wonderful their manifestos are.

Bribery

Yet, the cases of voter bribery are rampant, outlawed as bribery is. They go on as if it is a normal practice in a democracy, especially during electioneering. It is for this reason that a number of young people across the country tend to subscribe to the belief that “you better get something now” or else you will not see the candidates soon after August 8, a day for the general elections in Kenya.

Travelling across the country, one gets to see groups of young people either waiting for any candidate to “speak with them” or groups that have been mobilised by campaign financiers with the sole purpose of dishing out bribes. Given the high levels of joblessness in the country, young people are actually vulnerable to manipulation.

Candidates, who are adults, most of them parents even, prey on the young generation with little bribes whose maximum benefit is nothing but an apparent “feel nice, feel valued” effect in the young person. Some of the young people commit to supporting the bribing candidate as if a contract has been signed.

We all know that giving and receiving a bribe is illegal.

When a candidate consciously strategises on how to bribe young people in order to receive votes, we should hold our breath and ask the awkward question: what future are we passing on to the young? Of course the goal at hand is to win an election. But, at what cost to the young person we are bribing? When an adult – candidate or agent – pulls out bundles of money and without shame distributes to young people, the message received by the recipient is simple: First, I am special, that is why I am receiving the bribe – whatever name it is given at the ‘ceremony’.

Second, the adult is telling the young person that election campaigns are about dishing out money. Watch out for your own turn. And, sure enough, here I am to provide you the opportunity you have always longed for. Pap! Receive your bribe! Third, the young person is told go out and spread the good news about the candidate. Well, the candidate is bribing a whole generation and that is the good news that is being commissioned?

Fourth, the young person is being prepared for what we might call the real world – the real Kenya. To win, bribe. The young person grows up knowing that in future ‘I will need a lot of money to win an election should I ever consider becoming a candidate.’ This means, for the next 10 or so elections, voter bribery will be with us. How does the young person get the money to bribe? Voter bribery is a school in life. The young person learns that a bribe is your way to success.

Old days

We do know, even without listing names here, that we have a few candidates – at least in the past – who never gave bribes in order to win an election. They were a brand in themselves. They stood for values that young people identified with.

They had an agenda that young people approved.The fact that very few candidates consider winning impossible without a substantial amount of bribery particularly to young people suggests that there is a deliberate effort by adults to corrupt the minds of their own youngsters – assuming we still hold to our cultural values where a child belongs to the community regardless of family origin. In any case, bribery is very reciprocal when an opportunity provides itself.

Although bribery is often done under the cover of darkness, we should not only count on the relevant institutions fighting corruption in all its forms to stop the vice, as parents, guardians and Kenyans of goodwill we must also condemn any candidature bribing young people. It’s a pity we are not fighting voter bribery especially of young people the same way we fight exam cheats. As for young people, the message is clear: your future begins to diminish the moment you take a bribe.

Dr Mokua is Executive Director, Jesuit Hakimani Centre