Whom do you know? The injustice of personalising service delivery

An office block in Berlin. Access to timely and efficient services define advanced societies. Notice the microcar. [Xn Iraki]

It has become a common question, “Who do you know?” at certain institutions or companies. The question is usually asked when seeking services. It could be space for a Grade 10 child, power or water connection to a new building, getting a birth certificate, sorting KRA issues, a job, trouble with police or building approvals, among others.

Knowing someone expedites the provision of services, not necessarily through bribes.  Your services can be fastened or given more attention. But do you need to know someone to get services?

Such “knowing “is usually a symptom of a deeper problem. Loss of faith in our institutions.

By the time we start seeking someone we know, we have tried official means. Yet our institutions should be impersonal. Remember Max Weber? Why have institutions failed to deliver on their mandates and become personal? One possible explanation is that we got the “wrong people” in these institutions or companies.

If you get a job because you knew someone, why should you be diligent? After all, you might be assured of “protection.” Ever wondered how fake certificate holders get jobs and stay on? 

Everyone pays the price when we throw meritocracy out of the window. Looking for someone you know is a sign of dysfunctional systems. Good systems should be impersonal. You should get service irrespective of who you are. 

Personalising service is an injustice. What if you know no one?  You will be ignored or pay a bribe. The excuse given by the service provider is “I don’t know him or her.” You are a statistic! Corruption thrives for the same reason: you do not know who you steal from, the anonymous society. Would a policeman ask for a bribe from his in- laws? 

Unfortunately, the most affected by “who do you know” are the hustlers, the men and women who have never built any networks.  They sincerely know no one in these institutions. Who did you know when you came to Nairobi the first time? Or in your first job? 

Civilised societies take care of the vulnerable members of society. In other societies, you exploit them! And someone is asking why lots of citizens are angry? 

The introduction of online services was supposed to reduce “who you know.” But such systems are not human-free. The human part of the system is usually the weakest. We can have the most advanced technology, but the service delivery boils down to the men and women who run the technology and its systems.

That is why your upbringing, your value systems, your beliefs, your prejudices, and fears matter more than the years you spent in school or the technology we have deployed.  Any solution to who you know?

Let us grow up, mature and respect one another. Justice should be as natural as air; we all get it, irrespective of our position in society.  Have you been a victim of “who you know “? Talk to us.