Africa's major problem

[Nadine Aurelia ZORO]

I was trying to tell Larissa why hard work is the key to succeed. “What will be the point of waking up early in the morning, trying to dream when I know I will never get there? I don’t have any relative in a high position”. She said.

Larissa is not alone ,this is what goes through many young Africans’ mind because of what they see in their daily lives.indeed,they have been affected  negatively as a result of not having jobs, be admitted to schools, have access to basic public goods because they don’t know  anyone in a high position or they don’t have any  money.

Corruption hasn’t left me unscarred. Recalling what should have been a wonderful day for my family when my sister was going to give birth. I saw my sister bleeding to death; I was there powerless looking at her with tears in my eyes. Lying down on the ground with a baby almost out while a doctor passed there asking us to pay the double of the required price to take care of my sister. Because we didn’t have all the money they refused to help us saving the baby before he died and by the time my mother came with the money it was too late to save the baby even if they succeeded in saving my sister. Sadly, it’s the kind of situation that happens every time in our hospitals. CORRUPTION, corruption… how many people died because of corruption in Africa?  How can people prioritize money above people? How can people sell their country for their own welfare? How can some people’s lives serve as someone else’s own benefit?

Corruption is one of the most important problems of Africa because it’s the root cause of the majority of Africa’s problems for example poverty, inequality, non-respect of human rights. From the 2010 World Bank report, corruption cost African countries up to 30 % of their GDP as taxes are taken away by some individuals. The problem is not the money but the way this money could have been used. Maybe it could have been used to provide infrastructures, to create employment for young people who have now  stop dreaming about the future.it could have even been used to pay doctors maybe my sister ‘s baby would have been saved and become the next Nelson Mandela of Africa.

To conclude, corruption caries high costs since it prevent Africa from reaching the millennium development goals as for example the reduction of poverty, the child mortality…, As a result keeping Africa as the poorest continent in the world. For those reason I think Corruption should be considered as the major African concern.

[Nadine Aurelia ZORO]

Hi Shara, I am really sorry for answering to u that late.

I don't think corruption can be erased.Corruption is as natural as day and night.  Development is not by any means an easy thing to attain.  There are only two ways by which man can reach it.  One is by being cultured, the other by being corrupt. Corruption is an inherent trait in an individual’s personality and is hard to give up.  There is a genuine fashion in man’s corruption and it grows up by the degrees. I suggest that this degree can be kept low by teaching people , some moral values at a low age. I believe that indeed ,people are corrupt because it became ok in our society to be corrupted. There is indeed a way international organization can help decrease the level of Corruption in  African countries . Like in Liberia with GEMAP, they can try to put in place measures that will force people to manage efficiently the resources of their countries- for example refuse to give them fund.

[Shara Lili Esbenshade]

Dear Nadine,

Thank you for sharing these experiences with us. What do you think can be done to change this corruption? Where does fixing the problem start? You seem to imply that it has to start with the minds of the next generation- in how they are taught and raised. Does corruption arise because people have been used to a society in which they cannot make enough money without it? In what ways is corruption caused by the laws and practices of the government or other institutions with great power in African countries- perhaps the World Trade Organization or International Monetary Fund, to whom countries' money often goes for paying off debts instead of to the "way this money could have been used," as you mention, for life-saving and life-enhancing efforts to improve health care, economic situation, etc?

How do you think corruption can be erased?

Sincerely,

Shara