Critics say ethical education as a response to corruption is “nonsense”
A Bible based anti-graft campaign led by the former Archbishop of Kenya has come under fire. Secularists claim the Bible study guidelines released by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission led by the Most Rev. Eliud Wabukala will do little to stem Kenya’s public corruption crisis.
Last month the EACC released a Bible-based study guideline to educate Kenyans on the merits of integrity, justice, honesty and patriotism. In a 26 Sept 2018 Tweet announcing the program It said the guide would “help Kenyans discover God’s position on corruption and his direction on living a corruption free life.”
It stated: “Every member of our society has an opportunity to contribute to the success of the war against corruption. Regardless of your status in the society, you can make a difference. The Bible Study Guide inspires us to act and to believe our country can be free from corruption.”
The EACC was established by President Mwai Kibaki after the passage of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act of 2011. Corruption has long plagued Kenyan society, with government, business and church and civic society leaders caught up in its web. Transparency International gave Kenya a rating of 28 out of 100 in 2017 in its corruption perception guide — ranking it 143 out of 180 nations, giving it one of the lowest rankings for East Africa.
The EACC has successfully prosecuted several senior leaders over graft charges, but has come under criticism from the media for the apparent lack of progress in changing Kenya’s culture of corruption. The response on Twitter to the commission’s announcement was sharp, with one Kenyan calling the decision “nonsense” while a second described the commission members as “knuckleheads” for thinking that teaching ethics and values would address the problem.
However, in its studies on combating corruption, the World Bank has concluded the most successful long term strategy for eliminating corruption is to change the culture of a society that permits corruption to flourish — the approach taken by the EACC Archbishop Wabukala reports.