Institutionalization of Corruption in Kenya: A Review of Disintegration of the Moral Fabric

Abstract

Institutional corruption is a term that was coined by Dennis F. Thompson in 1995 and has since been used by scholars to analyze the seemingly increasing trend of systematically using public offices to influence outcomes for personal gain. Since independence, Kenya has transitioned towards a functional democracy, with the citizenry expectant of transparency and accountability from the public officials. However, corruption has continued to be a major impediment to developments in Kenya and it has been seen as infiltrating through all of the public and private sectors. For every taker, there is a giver and the Kenyan citizens have become partly unconscious and conscious willing participants in this widespread vice. The vice has infiltrated the social fabric of the Kenyan populace and has now become a way of life. The new constitutional dispensation was welcomed with high expectations and hopes for a better Kenya; however, the devolved system of governance has been seen to devolve not only power and resources but also corruption. This article analyzes the entrenchment of corruption in service delivery by both the public and private agencies and the receptiveness and willing participatory nature of the Kenyan people. Through the analyzed data, this article concludes that the rising rate of corruption is a clear indication that the moral fabric in Kenya is slowly disintegrating and corruption is one of the vice products of it.