I was a city boy, a soft Asian: novelist MG Vassanji describes growing up with graft in Tanzania

New Internationalist, Dec, 2006 by M.G. Vassanji

At the other end, entrenched corruption creates a belief in the moneyed class that they own the bureaucracy, perhaps even the government. Anything can be bought, rules and laws are there to keep the others down. Recently I met an in-law who told me proudly how she had got the nationalization of somebody's property revoked, through the influence of a friend high up in government. In her gratitude, this relation offered the highly respected individual, whose name I still hold in awe, a handsome payment in dollars, which he refused but then, graciously, accepted. The story could well be a boast, nevertheless it reflects an attitude. I was embarrassed for her.

An all-pervasive corruption becomes a way of life, a discomfort to be endured like the hot sun at noon for those who don't have the luxury of owning a car. Civic sense, a public responsibility, belief and pride in the neighbourhood, the city, the nation, the people, are not allowed to develop in a society pervaded by such attitudes. For those without the means or influence, government is the enemy, in a life that is an uphill battle--until their time comes, and they have the means to pay, or the position from which to extort.

In Tanzania, over the years, an overall cynicism seemed to have developed; taxes were not paid, not collected--yet people complained about the state of the roads, shortages of electricity and water, garbage not collected, the state of education. The rich always had their own schools, paying fees in thousands of dollars, something beyond the imagination of an ordinary worker. One such school, I discovered, was attended by the daughter of a former vice-president of our socialist nation. It became, still is, every person for themself.

If socialism facilitated bureaucratic corruption in Tanzania, a counter-example was neighbouring Kenya, which was capitalist and a darling of the West as long as the Soviet bloc lasted. In Kenya, although the small-scale corruption was also present, more money was in circulation and massive corruption was possible in the upper reaches of government and big business. Partnerships in 'businesses, acquisition of land, smuggling ivory and other banned animal products, payoffs from multinationals. If that were not enough, there were instances of what could only be called banditry: a minister's wife decides that she likes your business and will have it; for a small price; or else.

How high could you go up in corruption? Well, where does the money reside? It comes through foreign aid, masses and masses of it, by local standards, and from foreign companies. And so, a British car manufacturer is reported to have paid a minister a sum of money to purchase its vehicles for the government. A pittance in marketing costs for a multinational, a giant step for the minister. He might acquire a stake in one of the new exclusive shopping malls or high-rises coming up, he can send his kids to exclusive schools, then on to Harvard or Yale. Meanwhile the ranks of the unemployed keep swelling along Moi Avenue, valleys fill with shanty towns, violent crime rises, security companies proliferate.