Dear Editor,
Many Kenyans with the heart to fight against corruption as a societal vice and not a means for enrichment and having benefits welcome back Mr. John Githongo. He has been consistent and bold in the war against corruption.

The challenge still remains at to what he would initiate as a step that would give Kenyans solutions that press statements on the podium. Does Githongo have a precise re-defination, it political adjustments and means of handling such cases? The hero in Githongo seems popular but are Kenyans expecting answers to the likes of the Anglo Leasing scam and if so when? The czar touched on corruption as a product of our political society, in his speech, but he never described the ¡seeds¢ of the vice. May I remind him that we have heard tribal politician say that ¡it is our time to eat¢. But me thinks that corruption is a product of our obsession with tribalism. Corruption is never alone on its entirety.

More so many of us have tried to compare varied systems of ¡corruption¢ and how they get modified and re-processed including in our country. Surprisingly they are so, so different. The systems, means, language, processes, e.t.c. are different. Our kid of corruption touches on culture, tradition, politics and ways of life to define the ¡vice¢. Though tribalism is a universal phenomenon ours is more ¡toxic¢. In our villages the Samburu may deem is right to ¡steal¢ cattle from the Turkana without guilt. This is a way of life though an impunity to society. This corruption could be precipitated is readily encourages by some of our cultures and traditions.

Let me take you a bit far from the subject. When a chemical substance, e.g. Crystal Methyl (brown sugar) is taken into the body the substances in it tend to change the genetic coding and performance of ‘normal’ cells. The cells, tissues, organs and systems are thus ¡changed¢. In this regard our society is a facet of the larger system.

This may be a chemical kind of change. But can behavior cause such genetic kind of changes and performances? Can corruption be a genetic behavior and way of life? Are we born with it or do we acquire it? What makes us have that ¡high¢ affinity for corrupt practices? Is it our inability to get what we ¡rightly¢ want? Or is it the best kind of ¡tool¢ that may go unnoticed?

As a consequence it may be due to varied ‘modifications and methodologies’ that have been put in place to ease the ‘corruption traffic’. I have tried to not only study but compare such and the results are really interesting. Thus, factoring in the fabrics of culture, traditions and ways of life it could be habitual, acquired, modified and politicized for sectarian interests to serves the partisan purpose.

Or do we ‘willfully’ play to the tunes of corruption? But why? If so can behavior, including ‘corruption’ interfere with the genes and their performance? Why? May be because we are never born with it or are we?

For me tribalism is but corruption of the highest order.
Mundia Mundia Jnr.

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Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:03:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: mundia mundia
Subject: TRIBALISM: THE MOTHER OF ALL CORRUTION…