Causes of corruption in Africa

1.    Moral decay: Some people lack the acceptable standards of behaviour in society. They are not good in character and do not follow what is expected of them. The main cause is bad up bringing and personal indiscipline.
Sheikh Shaban Mubajje of UMSC, Mufti of Uganda (R) and Businessman Basajjabelaba in the dock at Buganda Road Court during hearing of a case in which the Muslim Community accused the duo in 2008 of fraudulently selling UMSC land.
2.    Irresponsible leadership: When administrators who are supposed give a good example to their people are carelessly involved in wrong acts. Their surbodinates easily follow the acts of their bosses.
3.    Low payment to workers usually widens the income-expenditure gap leading to low standard of living. According to the Circular Standing Instruction No. 12 of 2000, the lowest paid civil servant earned 60,000 (40$) which was far below the living wage. The extremely low salaries make it impossible for majority of workers to meet their basic needs. This has for a long time a major contributory factor to corruption.
4.    High cost of living: Inflation is a major factor which causes a high cost of living. Because of this people ask for bribes in order to feed, pay fees for children, rent and medical care.
5.    Poverty: In the process of coming out of poverty, some people end up practising corruption
6.    Complex and cumbersome bureaucracy: Unnecessarily cumbersome, complicated and often unwritten procedures result in long delays in rendering what would normally be a straight forward service. This is commonly experienced in renewing drivers’ licenses, registration of vehicles, approval of bank loans and clearance of imports. Members of the public are forced to give “chai” (tea) in order to reduce delays.
7.    Personal greed: Some public officials have endless desire to get rich quickly by fair or foul means. Such grabbers will never be satisfied with what they earn and therefore plan to steal all the time.
8.    Hostile environment: There are regulations which are so inconvenient and unreasonable that they force people to resort to corruption. Examples are high taxes payable before one can make a profit, high fees required to get a land title, a bank loan as well as a passport.
9.    Insecure tenure of office: Quite often people in top positions, whether politicians or public servants, feel insecure and threatened by the possibility that they could be removed from their “eating” or profitable offices any time. Such officials feel insecure because they either lack basic qualifications or they got jobs in wrong ways such as political patronage or sectarian tendencies. Uncertainty of jobs that one can be sacked any time causes corruption.
10.    Too much greed for wealth/ the desire to become rich quickly due to low life expectancy.
11.    Absence of role models in African states.
12.    Peer influence i.e. everybody else is embezzling state funds, why not me?
13.    Absence of strong laws and punishments to handle corrupt officials.
14.    Dictatorship and overstay in power.
15.    Decline in religious and cultural values and hence lack of a sense of shame.
16.    Delayed payments.
17.    Other cause are:
18.    Lack of patriotism
19.    Lack of strong government monitoring system.
20.    Political instability that one expects the system to collapse.
21.    High rate of unemployment
22.    Shortage of goods and services
23.    The practice of monopoly.
24.    The extended family system
25.    The Weak judicial system and the laws.

National Movements and New States in Africa