KENYAN AUTHOR FIGHTS CORRUPTION MONSTER

HE is a committed team player.

BUT Barasa K. Nyukuri has demonstrated the ability to work alone and organize himself accordingly.

His overriding passion is to make a difference, for the more positive, to people´s lives, especially in the field of human rights, gender, governance, democracy and strategic management.

As a razor-sharp consultant in leadership and governance and author of several books, Barasa is a widely traveled intellectual locally and internationally, and who enjoys researching, training, counseling, teaching and sharing his experience, knowledge and skills.

Always ready and willing to share his knowledge with others, he is able to make a sense of seeing complex issues for people who may have limited knowledge in gender and governance.

Barasa is the author of the thought-provoking book entitled, "The monster called corruption", which catapulted him to local and international fame, and which explores the intricacies of corruption and its dangers and repercussions in the society.

He has written and co-authored several other books on leadership, governance and gender.

Says he: "I am a lifelong learner and I have always relished a challenge. I have never been afraid to make informed decisions or take risks in life. I always believe that if I can do great things because of limited opportunities, resources and time, I should be able to do the small ones in a great and unique way."

He is creative, innovative and ready to turn challenges into opportunities and lessons for others.

He also believes in empowerment and training for responsibility, promotion of human dignity and change for sustainable livelihood for all individuals and communities.

Barasa does what he deems fit for himself and particularly the society surrounding him.

And though not the type to scream or bark for the purpose of grabbing headlines, the author-cum-political consultant is known and respected in serious academic circles, locally and internationally.

Barasa, who unsuccessfully vied for the Kimilili parliamentary seat during the 2007 General elections, has, in the interest of the public, instituted civil proceedings which are still pending in the High Court, against former Kenyan Trade minister Dr.Mukhisa Kituyi over alleged misuse of the constituency development funds (CDF).

He has also filed another suit in the High court which is also pending over constituency boundaries.

Other books which Barasa has also authored or co-authored include, "The hand book for political parties´ management, the comprehensive study of gender and governance on four nations – Kenya, India, Nigeria and Sudan."

Other titles include, "Towards democracy and good governance for Justice Catholic Church and peace commission, the peace committee model for pact Sudan and USAID, and The peace building skills for the catholic Justice and peace."

The knowledgeable author has also written over 300 conference papers on human rights, governance, democracy and gender. Barasa has also facilitated over 1,500 workshops and seminars for different cadres at local, regional and international levels on the said topics.

He has also carried out monitory and evaluation on such issues as youth agenda, Christian partners and development agents.

Barasa who is married and with children, has also written over 15 strategic plans for various CDF committees´ plans, non- governmental organizations including women bodies and trade unions.

And he is already penning down other books entitled, "The impact of corruption on the youth in Kenya, The political clashes and The rough road towards democracy in Kenya," and another one entitled, "My encounter with life (the alphabets of life) which is a biography of his life, and another one called "The beer project" - a graphic illustration of the impacts of alcohol on the youth.

Barasa´s role models include former South African President Nelson Mandela, slain American civil rights crusader Martin Luther King junior, and assassinated flamboyant Kenyan politician Tom Mboya who was popularly known as Thomas Joseph (TJ) Mboya. His other role models include classical scholars Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Saint Augustine, the revered Italian novelist famed for his book, "City of God," which explores the control and governance of Heaven and Earth by the Almighty God.

Barasa has been a lecturer at various public universities in the country and holds an M.A. in History and development studies University of Nairobi, a BED (2nd Class Honors) University of Nairobi, Participatory rural Appraisal (PRA) PAMFORK Institute, Certificate in Research Methodologies Centre for world Learning, USA, and Gender analysis at the Collaborative Centre.

He has achieved much on the consultancy and civic education front on several Gender, governance, democracy, human rights and HIV/AIDS Groups in Kenya since 1994 to date, while underscoring the importance of effective representation and participation of women as equal partners in all these structures and process of governance and leadership at all levels.

Barasa's books which seriously castigate corruption and it's perpetrators, come hot on the heels of persistent allegations of corruption which have tainted the shaky Kenyan Grand Coalition government

Some senior cabinet ministers in the government have been mentioned in Maize and Oil scandals amounting to billions of shillings (which have infuriated disillusioned citizens), while others are facing corruption-related cases in the law courts.

As an anti-corruption crusader which inspired him to write the book "The monster called corruption," Barasa defines corruption as the abuse of authority for personal advantage or for the advantage of another person or group.

"It can be found in every sphere of life and includes: bribery, theft, embezzlement, fraud and evasion of payments of government revenue and taxes," Barasa charges.

He observes that corruption was in both public and private spheres of our relationships and interactions, and it also involves a process where an individual or group unfairly gets access to undeserved resources, goods, services, opportunity or position. Barasa states that corruption is a monster, which affects all sectors of society, including the social, economic, political, educational, cultural, religious and environmental aspects of life.

"It manifests itself at different levels such as individual, family, community, organization, Department, local authority, institutions like schools, hospitals and water management boards/ committees, among others," he asserts during a recent interview with the media.

Barasa, in one of his many assignments, has interrogated the youth about their encounter or involvement in a corrupt transaction. Some of them openly confessed to have in one way or the other knowingly or unknowingly, participated in corrupt activities at the personal and group levels.

Barasa says there are two categories of corruption- Petty Corruption and Grand Corruption.

"The petty corruption, involves small-scale corruption such as stealing of drugs in public health centers, misuse of free education funds and bursary fund, non-provision of public social services like water, garbage collection, despite payment of rates and taxes by the citizens to the concerned authority or government institution," the author explains.

The Grand Corruption, Barasa points out, involves large-scale resources or amount of money, as was the case of Goldenberg and Anglo-Leasing Financial Scandals during the Moi and Kibaki regimes in Kenya. This category, he further states, usually involves abuse of office or abuse of rule of law by powerful individuals or their syndicates in influential public and private offices.

Barasa adds: "Some of the offices that are prone to grand corruption include; the Office of the president, Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Local Authorities, Ministry of Trade, Multi-National Companies.

These in other words manifests itself in the Judiciary, Legislature and Executive arms of Government in terms of illegal transactions, misuse of funds and corrupt allocations of tenders involving multi-million of public funds with large scale effects on the citizens."

Barasa challenged the youth to be very vigilant and to pro-actively participate in monitoring and evaluation of all the projects supported by devolved funds.

"However, for the youth to be able do so effectively; they need to obtain appropriate information from the relevant authorities or offices. Indeed, access to relevant information is an important step in ensuring the youth are effective in their anti-corruption initiatives," he states. The author identifies the common types of corruption as cheating, nepotistic, deceitful, transitive, protective, tokenism, bureaucratic, systemic, electoral, defensive, supportive, and promissory and extortion.

"It should be noted that a gift is not a bribe and what differentiates it from a corrupt practice is when the giver has no any motive to influence the mind or behavior of the recipient to act in a certain manner. In fact, what matters is the motive behind the so-called gift or handout. Anything given with some strings attached is no longer considered a gift but a bribe," Barasa explains.

On Causes of Corruption, he says there are different types of corruption as there are different types and dimensions.

"There are many circumstances that encourage corruption, but mostly it takes place where opportunities and discretionary powers are prevalent and where individuals are only countable to appointing authority i.e. where patronage rather merits was the main criteria for hiring that particular individual," he says.

The cause of graft according to Barasa can be broadly categorized as; political, social, economic, legal, cultural, psychological and administrative.

However, the specific causes include Individual´s greed, selfishness, materialistic tendencies and lust for power and desire to accumulate wealth by, or get rich quickly by any means, lack of commitment to the rule of law or to follow established procedures and regulations in transacting business.

Other causes of graft include too much power of discretion tending to lure people into corruption, weak law enforcement mechanism and poor remuneration of law enforcement agents tempting them to engage in corrupt practices, risk of being netted in corruption ventures and high payoffs encouraging many to take risks or bribe their way out.

More causes, Barasa indicates, include weak or compromised management and monitoring systems, lack of effective checks and balances in structures of governance, inefficiency in service delivery and or the existence of too much bureaucracy and unnecessary regulatory systems, tempting individuals or groups to look for short-cuts, loopholes in the procurement and tendering procedures for public services goods.

Other causes, he says, include scarcity of essential commodities and services causing corruption, especially among those who fear to lose access to such goods and services. This is reflected in negative competition and adoption of dubious means to gain access to the said goods. Barasa adds:

"Abject poverty and helplessness may also drive some people to engage in corruption. Lack of professionalism and work ethics results into corruption. Abuse of the African value system; break down of social norms and taboos that govern people´s relationships and interactions as well as weak, compromised and/or infective judicial systems tend to perpetuate corruption."

Defective laws and lack of morals drive people to engage in corruption. The negative attitude towards hard work, honesty, transparency and accountability resulting from a culture of impunity or inaction and a don´t care attitude also leads to corruption, according to the respected author.

The major problem of development and governance in most communities, organization and countries revolves around bad governance, corruption, and mismanagement of public resource and poor delivery of services by gender insensitive leadership and institutions, Barasa states.

There is currently leadership crisis, mismanagement of public resources and poor service delivery at national and rural levels in virtually all sectors of public and private life that calls for skillful intervention, he adds.

Says Barasa: "Many youth in top positions in the government, civil society and private sector are trained for work and not inducted in proper management of public resources and hence the need for anti-corruption skill-building. There are very few youth leaders in key sectors of decision making in Kenya at the national and local levels in general, hence the need for a deliberate and tailor made training programme for them as a strategy of enhancing their capacity to engage in anti-corruption and good governance activities as well as influence policy direction in order to change this state of affairs."

The general discontent among the electorates with regard to wide spread corruption among most of the elderly men elected and appointed leaders calls for alternative leadership from youth and women who unfortunately are ill-prepared in terms of knowledge, skills and desired attitudes, the author explains.

"Increase in the rate of unemployment, especially among the youth calls for re-orientation in career choice and creativity, which can be enhanced through training like leadership and anti-corruption ventures," Barasa further says

On the roles and responsibilities of the youth in fighting corruption, he suggests that the youth should first be more knowledgeable about the devolved funds, functions and expected functions for the priority sectors thus water, health and education, and they should have factual information about the legal framework, policies governing each of the above sectors, together with their procurement procedures. They should also be pro-active in seeking clarification, answers and appropriate information from relevant authorities in the selected sectors and be able to seek representation and participation in identification and implementation of priority projects or public social services.

Barasa says: "They should monitor the implementation process of projects and service delivery logistics (i.e. inputs, strategic and results) using a Result Based Management checklist, become watchdogs and whistle blowers whenever they suspect or detect some financial indiscipline, misuse, misallocation, exaggeration and any other corrupt transaction."

He adds that the youth should also carry out rapid assessments / action-oriented research or investigation, analyze the information and submit the report to relevant law enforcement agencies. Barasa indicates that the youth should also mobilize and sensitize other youth and general public on the dangers of corruption in terms of access to better services in the selected sectors, under the theme of integrity and justice for all citizens regardless of gender and other social divides.

They should also compile and disseminate appropriate IEC materials using appropriate communication strategies such as posters, stickers, booklets, fact sheets, email, SMS, online interface (anti-corruption website) according to Barasa. They should also engage in identifying, naming and shaming of corrupt service providers in each of the respective sectors and formulate and present memorandums to relevant law enforcement agents and decision makers, he states.

The author adds that the youth should also engage in public education and local anti-corruption campaigns using music, narratives, proverbs, riddles and audio-visual aids, leaflets, and drama and community theatre, indulge in positive engagement with the mass media, to create publicity and visibility of youth interventions to stop corrupt practices or let demand for better services form the selected sectors. They should also mobilize the general public to support the cause and course of youth anti-corruption initiatives in the community, Barasa further states.

"The youth engaging in anti-corruption must do self-introspection to determine their own level of integrity and become role models in their new capacities as change agents," he says.

On the challenges of the youth in anti corruption on good governance initiative, Barasa notes that high levels of ignorance and illiteracy hampers them to make informed participation and decisions on issues that affects their livelihoods. They also face the challenge of being branded, labeled, stigmatized and accepted as change agents, and the challenge of personal life, conflict of interest and aspiration to get rich quickly among many of them, according to the author.

"Whistle blowing and anti-corruption campaigns are risky and can endanger one´s life and property, especially by corruption syndicates, captains of corruption and even their foot soldiers," Barasa concludes.