The Link Between Corruption and Poverty : Lessons from Kenya Case Studies

Kleptocracy is defined as a state controlled to benefit an individual or small group who use their power to gain “a large fraction of society’s resources” to use for themselves. Kleptocracy “obstruct[s] development” of countries because the money taxpayers entrust to further develop their country through projects such as schools or infrastructure, becomes diverted to certain people for their own personal gain. Daron Acemoglu, Thierry Verdier, and James A. Robinson, writers for the Journal of the European Economic Association, established that kleptocracy runs rampant in “many developing countries.” As a result of this corruption, countries suffer “highly inefficient economic policies” and “expropriated the wealth of their citizens.”

First, it is important to define what corruption is. The term, “corruption” covers a broad range of human actions,

Sierra Leone is a small country found on the west coast of Africa. The country shares a border with the Atlantic Ocean, Liberia, and Guinea. Sierra Leone has a population of 5,525,000 people, and 27,699 square miles of land. In 1462 Freetown, Sierra Leone was founded by Pedro da Cintra, a Portuguese explorer from Lagos, Portugal. da Cintra originally named the country Sierra Lyoa , the Lion Mountains, but in 1787 the British officially adopted Sierra Lyoa changing its name to its modern day spelling- Sierra Leone. This small country has faced many horrors within its history. The Sierra Leone civil war is a major contributing factor to the country’s current state of poverty and corruption. Most problems that the country faces today all stem

"Corruption is an important cause of poverty because it promotes unfair distribution of income and inefficient use of resources." (The Link Between Corruption and Poverty) Americans enjoy a government that, although it has its flaws, looks out for its citizens and is geared for the benefit of the people as a whole. Leaders that are elected generally have the population's best interests at heart and fight for better lives for average Americans nationwide. Most countries in Africa do not have the luxury of such a government. The officials only care about themselves. They pocket a fair amount of the donated money and another significant portion is used for selfish projects that do not really benefit the country or the millions of poverty-stricken citizens. "The well-connected people don't have to pay the same taxes like everyone else; policemen and other junior officials seeking small bribes don't dare solicit cash from them. At the end of the day it is the poor and the weak who face the true brunt of corruption. This is a critical link between corruption and poverty." (The Link Between Corruption and Poverty) This also has an effect on the leaders that do have good intentions at heart. They have never been trained on how to be effective and they also, accidentally, use the money in many unhelpful ways. The money is squandered time and time again and the rest of the world does nothing but keep the supply of it coming. This is another area where something must

As one of the longest running state breakdown, Somalia confronts large portions of the significant debasement challenges that influence struggle torn nations, with across the board

Corruption and money go hand in hand. Money is a motivating factor for corruption, and the transfer of money or other special benefits often finances corruption.

Corruption is seemingly the Kenyan way, on any given day in the dailies there is a breaking story on a new scandal or a rehash of a past one. From government to corporates there are multiple examples of maleficence some of which will continue to adversely affect our economy for years to come.

Corruption has been seen as a major obstacle of rapid economic growth and development. It is a complex phenomenon whose roots lay in political and bureaucratic institutions and affects the economic growth of different countries. It makes the governments intervene where they do not need to, and it weakens the ability of the government to enact and implement policies in areas in which government intervention is needed. Over the years, the dispute of the economic consequences of corruption on economic growth has been a topic of analysis. The analysis is focused on the effect of corruption on economic growth. Several studies have generally found a negative correlation between corruption, economic growth, inequality, governance, income distribution and business environment. At the same time also some positive correlation with economic growth has been found to exist.

It would be convenient to start this research paper by stating that corruption is a challenge mainly for businesses in developing countries and that it is unrelated to the current affliction of the economy in the United States. It would also be convenient to claim corruption has declined in America as a result of awareness raising campaigns and the numerous anti-corruption laws. But none of those aforementioned statements would be true. Corruption is not the exception, but rather the rule in today’s business practices. In 2004, Daniel Kaufmann, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution and former director at the World Bank, calculated an index of "legally corrupt" manifestations which is defined as the extent of undue influence

This three acts of corruption have a huge negative impacts on the society, it can cost people’s live, become a major obstacle to democracy and law, depletes national wealth, makes people undermine their trust in the political system as well as environmental degradation. Therefore, due to its high level of harm to the society, Transparency International fully dedicated its non-confrontational approach and the available partnership to get all of the relevant parties to negotiate and beat the corruption through a step-by-step process (Transparency

Introduction: Corruption is becoming prevalent all over the world. Corruption hurts economies, people, and governments. Corruption is unethical, immoral, and illegal in many societies, religions, and countries. It needs to be stopped. Private organizations, United Nations, and some governments have attempted to stop corruption or at least have tried to prevent it. Corruption in Bangladesh: Corruption is talk of the town in Bangladesh now. It is not only a vice in Bangladesh but also in other countries of the world. But there are differences in the forms and results of corruption in different countries. A few specialists on corruption regard it as supportive to development. Corruption means committing crime and mischief to the country. It causes great harm to the countrymen. None can escape the harm of corruption. It is a social malady. It spreads its greedy

Corruption can be defined as the use of entrusted power to accumulate public wealthy for personal benefit. Corruption is not peculiar to any country, continent or state; it is sure a global issue which is an endemic to all government all over the world. However, corruption is prevalent in the Niger delta region of Nigeria; public officers in this oil producing state of Nigeria are corrupt. Consequently, it has defied the Niger delta from developing politically and economically which has left the states reputation in a mess. Radicalization of youths, abject poverty and -political instability are the three leading effects of corruption in the Niger delta region of Nigeria.

This paired with poor law enforcement yields an impossibly hard to get rid of corruption. In Kenya, political corruption has grown rampant. People, who are supposed to be representing the interests of their constituency, instead take money from the constituents to keep their representative positions.

Kenya is the regional leader in East Africa and this position is expected to be a constant over time. The economy is fairly diversified with a strong and well developed services sector. The financial services industry in particular is well developed and established, moreso the country is considered East and Central Africa’s hub for financial services.

Corruption is a complex political, social, and economic anomaly that negatively affects developing and developed countries. It weakens democratic institutions, holds economic development, widening the rich-poor gap and certainly leads to governmental instability. The World Bank definition of corruption states that “…the abuse of public office for private gain”.