Traffic Laws and Corruption

By driving around the streets of Mombasa with various people, it’s clear to see that nobody likes the way people generally drive. The aggressive and dangerous driving methods in Kenya are rooted in the habits of matatus. To drive in Kenya you need to know how to courageously cut off matatus and force your way into unyielding traffic.

Infrastructurally, the road system is pretty bad (no where near as bad as many countries in the developing world, but still not good). The roads are narrow and full of potholes which destroy a car’s suspension and undercarriage. There are a few traffic lights around the country, but rarely are they respected. Essentially traffic police do not exist. The police that stand roadside watch cars to ensure they have the right registration and OCCASIONALLY direct traffic, god forbid they have a vehicle by which to chase down traffic violators. Any police car you see is crammed full of policemen and is only transporting those men, not looking for law breakers.

It came to me pretty quickly – what would happen if traffic laws were enforced?

1. A huge amount of money would be collected from the magnitude of tickets that would be issued.
2. Money made from traffic infractions could be used to widen roads, put up traffic lights and traffic control signs, employ more police officers, and even provide the police with vehicles and equipment.
3. Traffic would decrease as congestion was controlled and channeled properly.
4. People would die less often from out of control matatus careening off the road or into other vehicles.

But with those ideas came a huge hurdle: corruption. How will those fines make it to the government? You'd have to crack down on corruption. So how do you fight corruption?

If there is one thing that has held Kenya back from becoming a booming success, it is be corruption. Until recently, issues such as political oppression and tribal clashes were virtually unheard of in Kenya. Now, Kenya remains far from perfect, but its glaring weakness is good governance. They are currently on their third president in 45 years. The first president, Jomo Kenyatta spent 15 years as president, succeeded my Daniel Arap Moi, a man who stayed in power for 25 years, during which he worked his way onto the list of the top 10 or 20 richest people in the world. Let me tell you, he wasn’t making hat money through his recently torched wheat plantation. The current president has been in power for just about 6 years but is suspected to be handling money no better. That corruption percolated down through every organ of the government and is particularly apparent in the police force.

So I thought, where do you start? Let’s think about just the police. Maybe you can give the police higher salaries? Not an easy thing to do and not guaranteed to stop corruption. Anti-corruption teams don’t seem to do it either.

I realize now that it fighting corruption depends on those not involved in government, everyday people.

Talking to a guy I know through a local community organization in Mtopanga, the topic of fighting corruption came up. He was very pessimistic, believing that there is no way around corruption. It’s a system that is here to stay and that we might as well partake in it. He holds no hope for the system changing. This comes in part by the horrible example set by the national government. They steal and make deals under the table constantly (such as a recently planned arms sale to South Sudan that they fervently denied). It dawned on me that the people don’t believe that corruption can be fought; they have objectified and internalized its existence. After internalizing it, they externalization corruption as they participate in it. This process creates an ever-growing negative feedback loop.

Taking a true stand against corruption lies in giving the public hope that if they try to fight it they can win. One of the ideas in America that has been sewed into our moral fiber, alongside our protestant work ethic, is a strong distaste for being cheated or similarly for corruption. I truly believe that if a cop was going to give us a speeding ticket for $100, and offered to give us a warning in exchange for $50, we would go straight to the police station, pay our ticket, and turn in the officer. Perhaps we have a good system of checks and balances? Even so, when it comes down to it, corruption is held in such a bad light that people will fight it wholeheartedly. But, we Americans usually have the ability to pay the ticket. The difference of $50 is painful for any regular wage earner in America, but to a Kenyan that $50 is a month’s salary (if they’re lucky enough to have a job). They rarely have savings and would have to submit to corruption.

At the end of the day we BELIEVE corruption can be brought to justice. Kenya needs both to be given hope, and for their development process to continue so their GDP can rise and their country can prosper. Unfortunately, there is a tremendous Catch-22. They need their economy to improve to allow them to fight corruption, but corruption cripples their efforts to improve the economy.