The corruption race in Africa : Nigeria versus South Africa, who cleans the mess first?

• Author: Prince Pius Imiera
• DOI: 10.17159/2225-7160/2020/v53a5
• Date: 01 June 2020
• Published date: 01 June 2020
• Pages: 70-89

70 2020 De Jure Law Journal

The corruption race in Africa: Nigeria

versus South Africa, who cleans the mess

first?

Prince Pius Imiera

LLB BL LLM, BA, MA Phil

Post Doctoral Research Fellow, University of South Africa, College of Law, Institute

for Dispute Resolution in Africa

SUMMARY

The aim and objective of this article is to unpack in a comparative format

the fiend of corruption in Africa, using Nigeria and South Africa as the

giant in corruption alongside Somalia, South Sudan and Madagascar in the

continent of Africa. It is true that corruption has been imported and/or

incorporated into the African political space; although, the dimension and

effects of corruption differ from country to country in Africa. In Africa,

corruption is clearly visible culminating in several high-profile scandals

standing out. In Nigeria for instance, former and late military head of State,

Sani Abacha and South Africa’s Jackie Selebi were some among many

public office bearers indicted in corruption mess. Kofele-Kale noted that

corruption is punishable in all African countries, prohibited in their

Constitutions and in various regional and pan-African anti-corruption

instruments. In fact, Africa’s leaders are concerned about the problem of

corruption that hardly a day goes by without some government entity

criticising corruption and its cancerous effects on African society, yet,

Africa has made little or no progress on this front.

The article examines corruption in Nigeria and South Africa and tries to

find out which of these two countries will be first in the complete

eradication of corruption.

1Introduction

Corruption is endemic and has become part of every day routine in the

continent of Africa, this is no longer news. What may be news however

to the international communities and Africa is that the evil of corruption

has been completely wiped out in Africa and has become history

because:

“As long as corruption continues to go largely unchecked, democracy is under

threat around the world because corruption chips away at democracy to

produce a vicious cycle, where corruption undermines democratic

institutions, weak institutions are less able to control corruption, over and

above this, with many democratic institutions under threat across the globe –

often by leaders with authoritarian or populist tendencies – we need to do

more to strengthen checks and balances and protect citizens’ rights.”1

1 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 (2019) 1.

How to cite: Imiera ‘The corruption race in Africa: Nigeria versus South Africa, who cleans the mess first?’

2020 De Jure Law Journal 70-89

http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2225-7160/2020/v53a5

Corruption race in Africa: Nigeria versus South Africa 71

The major and principal challenges confronting the African continent

is the need to develop and sustain positive socio-economic results which

may lead to structural transformation processes.2 To achieve structural

transformation in Africa, three vital requisites are important in this

regards: first, is good governance, which is extremely important;

secondly, is that decision-making processes should be implemented by

African leaders; and thirdly, Africa needs to keep up great administration

and manufacture strong administration organisations, not exclusively to

battle defilement, yet in addition to quicken and support its endeavors

towards social and financial improvement.3

As a corollary to the foregoing, the Africa agenda 2063 states

unequivocally that:

“Africa shall be a continent where democratic values, culture, practices,

universal principles of human rights, … justice and the rule of law are

entrenched.”4

In addition, institutional transformation for Africa’s development is very

critical in wiping out corruption from Africa, this comes on the heels of

the African Agenda 2063, which further affirms:

“Africa shall also have capable institutions and transformative leadership in

place at all levels. Corruption and impunity will be a thing of the past.”5

Corruption is a social menace and global phenomenon, it is however

more pronounced in some jurisdictions than the other; for instance,

corruption is more common in all African countries as shown in the chart

below than in any other part of the world.6 Corruption through its

perpetrators undermines and twists public policy leading to resource

misallocation which ultimately affects private sector growth and

produces negative economic effects that bring untold hardship and hurt

the common man.7

The World Financial Institution (World Bank) perceives corruption as an

international and domestic problem,8 individual wealth accumulation

attitude by public office holders culminating in the misuse of public goods

for individual and/or private benefits and enrichment, this takes the form

of payment of bribes to bypass laid-down procedural principles. As a result,

corruption becomes widespread in places where people in fiduciary trust

and privileged positions monopolise the use of public funds to their

advantage in the discharge of their constitutional duties with less or no

2 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Measuring corruption in

Africa: The international dimension matters African Governance Report IV

(2016) 2.

3 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 2.

4 Agenda 2063 The Africa we want: The vision for 2063 Aspiration (2015) 5.

5 Agenda 2063 28-29.

6 Gamu chirai “Corruption in Africa: Implications for development” 2014 Polity 1.

7 Gamuchirai 1.

8 The World Bank Helping Countries Combat Corruption Operational (2000)

43.