Last year I went through a very painful experience after my sister in the Lord was implicated in a corruption scandal. I had noticed some changes in her but it could not prepare me for the scandal she was involved in. I was oscillating between anger and shock. She’s in the most lucrative department anywhere in Kenya. PROCUREMENT.
I’ve never felt that disappointed in my life. I was unable to make sense of the whole thing. Like how now. I am still shocked to date its only that I try to understand and to empathize. Sometimes back I met a certain beautiful lady at a prayer center and she told me that she was in business for medical supplies but she was struggling because she didn’t want to be corrupt. To pay kickbacks to get tenders and the like.
I did alot of soul searching and I asked myself if I could have fallen in the same trap. I mean who does not want free money? So what has stopped me, is it that I am morally superior to the other believers who just go with the flow of the pervasive corrupt culture in Kenya.
To be honest, I have tried but God always shut me down from kitambo so in time I realized God won’t let me get away with doing unscrupulous things, so it just got in my system that being unscrupulous may work for others but God won’t allow it to work for me Ala the Lord chastens those He loves. So it went into my subconscious so it never even occurs to me anymore to try because I know that I won’t get away with it. So basically I just do it because I fear God, nor because I am the most principled and I am but God has had to put alot of reinforcements for me to get where I would not even consider because I don’t want to deal with God after that.
I am just wondering how do other believers cope with the very corrupt environment we find ourselves in on daily basis, be it kickbacks, be it embezzlement, be it corporate affairs to get ahead? How do you steer clear of the corruption is everywhere even in the church?
It’s crazy… simply crazy. I forewent many opportunities because I could not bring myself to lie on record so that people can enjoy kickbacks. It’s very difficult, though. A brother had to have a special arrangement with his superiors and remain behind the desks permanently because he could not ‘kitu kidogo’ people while on patrol (a very faithful policeman ).
Sometimes, it’s the pressure that gets believers. Most don’t set about to get rich quickly, but cannot withstand the persecution that follows righteous living in a sinful environment. It’s crazy aki. Good to hear you are still sensitive to the Spirit. Most people are not.
I especially pity guys in government. One brother was implicated in Waiguru’s scandal. I remember Murkomen saying that the guy was seen in a vehicle ferrying some money. I am still not sure if he did it or not, but he swears he didn’t. In that position though, unless you’re willing to lose everything for the kingdom, it’s not easy to remain straight.
Look at people like our DP. Very strong Christian background, but he’s associated with almost every scandal there is. I like the guy, but sometimes he just makes me feel like I could just quit voting altogether.
Many other Christians fall into the same trap. The opportunity to steal becomes more enticing than the kingdom to come, a recipe for spiritual disaster. I too don’t pretend to judge these brothers because I’ve not been tempted with such complicated situations. If I had a 30-year career, I still wonder if I would abandon it rather than play the game of bribes and kickbacks. It’s not an easy decision. I feel for the brothers and sisters in such situations. That’s why it’s so important to keep the fire of the HS burning.
He’ll convict out the possibility of taking a bribe. The problem is that most of these jobs keep people from worthwhile spiritual relationships and time with God. In the end, the temptation strikes when the brethren are cold: Impossible to beat temptation there
I’m not a believer but I too detest this vice I have found myself in situations of people asking for kickbacks or crooked people wanting my services I have strangled I have to confess I have given in twice and refused twice kwanza moja was a very vocal NGO guy who was always on TV fighting the vice I was naive and was left shellshocked ! So im always wondering when is it corruption and when is it extortion ? Same thing has happened to me with cops they arrest you without any evidence you weigh the implications of fighting them through legal channels or just bribe them I have chosen the easier route !
I totally understand. Like a traffic officer demands 200 bob or he’ll waste three hours akikusumbua. I give them the money and count it as a theft… ni kama nemekutana nam-thief akanitoka 2 sok
I prefer to do what God tell me to do, cause its the only way. At one point in life, we need to trust God more than man, so if someone wants money as a quid pro quo, go on your needs and engage God
The most disturbing thing in Kenya is that this vice is in every sector. Remember when KCPE and KCSE were being sold and bought and bright kids could not get the courses they wanted like medicine. Even admission to high schools were bought and sold. Then universities are centers of rot, sleeping with lecturers, bribing them.
Of course as a woman I am so used to requests for sexual favors that one is like a given. You miss job opportunities. You kosanad with bosses. Nothing prepared me for the rot in Kenyan public universities. Yaani MBA guys were paying 200k to graduate without doing projects bcz it’s not scrutinized like MSc which requires thesis. Mateso from supervisors. They tell you, not ask for you to give internships and even find their relatives jobs. They want to be bought for meals and alcohol. Some even try to trap you in a sexual relationship. Yaani you sit down and ask yourself if in postgraduate this is what happens how about undergraduate? Yaani a supervisor calls you and point blank tells you he’s naked in his room si you go play with him. Others are allocated classes when they are not even in the country. Zero class attendance, you are just given marks. Yaani you even quit the program. I’ve quit 2 different universities.
Yaani corruption in Kenya is just at another level you can’t believe. Don’t talk of police. Go to offices. It’s just a brothel. To get favors you must sleep with bosses if you don’t do those things you become a pariah. It’s like a club where the initiation ama the oath for joining is merry go round sex, all the women in top posts have kids from the top guys, the right tribe. A driver from the right tribe has more power than a head of department. It gets to you so much you feel like you want to become a hermit.
I wonder if other countries are like Kenya coz Kenya even winning a lottery ni kujuana. A guy told me that he won a meter bcz the lady in charge was his gf and he was sexually involved with her. Something publicised by an international firm. The rot is everywhere. Hospitals doctor will have you do unnecessary surgery to make money. I’ve declined surgeries, root canals. They’re pressurizing you and when you seek second opinion there’s nothing wrong with you. Man eat man society.
Prayers actually work. I think we usually pray as a last resort but it works best as the first resort. There’s alot of persecution and isolation to do what is right in fact like in police you can die for not cooperating with your bosses or end up in North Eastern.