CORRUPTION Syndromes of Corruption

170 Syndromes of Corruption
proliferated. Economic policymakers have responded to international
pressures and incentives with significant liberalization. A proposed new
Constitution is intended to build more accountable government and
reduce presidential domination by creating a Prime Minister and cabinet;
the draft document was adopted by a national conference early in 2004
but has drawn much opposition from segments of parliament and the
executive. While poor, divided along ethnic and tribal lines, and burdened
by a history of dictatorial rule, Kenyans may finally be moving
toward an open, viable economy and accountable, effective government.
But Kenya’s many problems were also reflected in the rapacious pattern
of Official Mogul corruption during the Moi years. Monopoly political
power in a setting of extremely weak state institutions created strong
incentives to corruption for the President and his personal favorites while
weakening legal checks and countervailing political forces. As in China
(albeit on a far smaller economic scale), economic liberalization meant
that political favorites could devise a wide range of dispersed monopolies,
exploiting ‘‘squeeze points’’ of varying types with impunity – often with
Moi’s protection. Opposition groups and much of society as a whole were
not only denied opportunities, but were victimized: farmers and small
merchants saw their land and assets taken by Moi cronies, and had few
opportunities for political or legal recourse. While international organizations
took limited action against Kenyan corruption, they tended to
conceive of it in terms of high-level bribery of state officials, as discussed
in chapter 1. As a result, some of the worst abuses – notably, the illegal
seizure of private and public lands by government insiders – drew
relatively little international attention (Klopp, 2000). Meanwhile, legitimate
as well as corrupt economic opportunities in many sectors were
dominated by the President and his personal allies. Corruption in Kenya
not only enriched the President and his backers; it helped keep the nation
undemocratic, the government ineffective, and the people poor.
A legacy of corruption
As the Official Moguls notion suggests, corruption in Kenya has been
shaped by chronically weak institutions, economic liberalization – which
in a setting of pervasive poverty translated into compelling economic
opportunities for a very few – and, most of all, unchecked and unaccountable
political power. Since independence in 1963 politics and the quest
for wealth have revolved around the presidency – an office strengthened
considerably by the Constitution, drawn up under British tutelage (Ross,
1992: 424). The legendary Jomo Kenyatta provided powerful symbolic
leadership, but behind him a broad nationalist coalition quickly