Page 344 - Volume 2_CHANGES_merged_with links

What Corruption ? Whose Corruption ?

Managing change

Bit by bit, during my investigation, all sorts of skeletons came tumbling out of the closet.
The same three Africans had secured a contract to build accommodation for hospital

staff - despite having no actual business, no relevant previous experience and no

construction resources!
And as matters became clearer, it turned out the previous owner of the maize mill

had made a commitment to buy USD 300,000 shares in the newly structured business but
had reneged on it. And this person was unchallengeable for his debt because he was now

a member of the country's national maize 'control board'. A position that gave him the

ability to limit the new owner’s future ability to get much of the unprocessed maize the mill
would need for its operations.

This was all in an ex-British colony where the 'Company Law' mirrors almost exactly

UK Company Law.
In trying to untangle the mess in order to rescue the business, the over-riding memory

I walked away with was how the robustness of professional authorities, professional

regulators was undermined by the intertwining of relationships between a small number of
figures.

The smallness of the level of activity in an underdeveloped nation leads to a high

level of interaction, and a high potential for 'vested interests' to become a 'shared interest'
across a small group.

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Conclusions

ɡ
̩
m'zuŋ u, transpose these circumstances to your own country, and then ask yourself if you
could do much better.

Much can be done to reduce the level of corruption. And much has and is being done.
Public tenders in those countries reliant on the support from major aid donors can be

expected to be conducted against robust safeguards.
̩
ɡ
If the m'zuŋ u wants to make further significant inroads into the current levels of
ɡ
̩
corruption, then the m'zuŋ u may have to accept a greater responsibility for the actions of
their own peoples and corporate bodies.
In respect of actions that need to be taken internally by African governments, the

̩
ɡ
m'zuŋ u may have to reflect on and adjust their attitudes towards stronger forms of