Combating Corruption in Africa

This assignment requires an analysis of a speech focused on combating corruption in Africa. The speech explores the key aspects of this issue, addressing 'what' measures are needed, 'why' corruption is detrimental, and 'how' to implement effective solutions. The analysis should delve into the strategies outlined by the speaker, such as establishing independent anti-corruption agencies, raising public awareness, and ensuring legal accountability for corrupt officials.

Speech on Corruption and Bribery 1
SPEECH ON CORRUPTION AND BRIBERY
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Speech on Corruption and Bribery 2
Speech on corruption and Bribery
Written transcript
“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Royal African Society forum on
corruption and bribery.
I would first wish to thank your respective governments for allowing you to attend this
auspicious forum and the U.S government for sponsoring this particular event.
I have made numerous speeches on the impact of corruption and bribery in a country’s socio-
economic and political governance. However, today shall be different. I would wish to
candidly talk and discuss with you, and I look forward to hearing your varied opinions on our
topic today.
Indeed, most of you are from developing nations that are increasingly being swallowed by
bad governance and extreme exploitation. Therefore, we must first understand where we are
now if we are to successfully introduce decisive changes that can help us fight corruption and
institute good governance.
Given the scarce resources in our countries, can we really afford to siphon funds to foreign
banks through corrupt deals or engage in any repressive corrupt deals? Can we afford to
continually smug about corruption and bribery in our nations? And so, why is there an
inherent need to effectively tackle corruption and bribery? And is it worth the effort?
To start, these two acts are simply morally distasteful practices that must be fought from all
fronts. According to the World Bank annual reports on governance, corruption and bribery
resulted into an approximate loss of $1 trillion globally. Are you seeing the need for us to
collectively silence these practices that are threatening our survival?

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In reality, we cannot afford to ignore the corrosive effects of corruption and bribery on our
countries’ rule of law and general economy. For example, when proceeds from the Nigerian
oil resources are exploited, service provisions are distorted. This is a serious threat to the
quality of life and ability of the nation to flourish economically.
We must all agree that corruption and bribery are major impediments to our collective efforts
towards absolute eradication of poverty and introducing meaningful development. This is
majorly because when taxpayers’ funds are embezzled, the governments’ ability to avail
basic services is seriously curtailed. Consequently, we are all victims of corruption and
bribery and must do everything humanly possible to tackle the crimes.
I have subsequently summarized some of the actions that every nation should take to reduce
or to completely eradicate these two challenges.
First, every country must recognize that corruption and bribery thrives under fragile
leadership that do not value accountability. With increased accountability, it will be
extremely hard for unscrupulous political elites to loot public resources that could otherwise
be used in other meaningful service deliveries. Therefore, I urge you to consider establishing
and equipping independent institutions to augment the fight against corruption and bribery.
Secondly, we should ensure that those institutions tasked with fighting corruption are
resilient, reactive and responsible. The mentioned World Bank report accredit corruption and
bribery to outright bad governance of the responsible organizations.
Thirdly, there must be a political will from the ruling elites to adequately wrestle these
challenges. There is an inherent need to ascertain the fact that it is the ruling elites that
benefits the most from corruption and bribery related activities. Siphoning of public funds
and looting a country’s tax base has become so normal in most African countries.
Take for example Gambia, a country that has been wallowing in unimagined poverty because
of corruption. It is rumoured that the former president together with his other close associates

Speech on Corruption and Bribery 4
siphoned off the country’s scarce natural resources for personal gain. Such enormous waste
of the country’s wealth over the past decades has left the country in economic despair. But
for how long must such countries suffer because of corruption?
We need to recognise that globalisation has increased the prospects for some ruling elites to
make enormous fortunes from siphoning off a country's natural resources or its tax base. Only
through transparency in our political systems and institutions we will be able to adequately
address these challenges.
In a special way, allow me to appreciate the Nigerian government for their efforts towards the
same. In the past few years, they have been providing more information on the country’s oil
revenue by conducting numerous audits and publishing such vital information for public
consumption. The people now knows rough estimates of how much their government collect
from the sales of this important natural resource, and for this, I appreciate their effort.
In addition, we must aim at changing public perception of normalizing corruption and bribery
particularly in service delivery. We should recognize the fact that the public need to be
sensitized to help in addressing these challenges. For instance, various public campaigns
should be initiated through the media to inform the public about the dangers that corruption
and bribery related activities exposes our respective countries to, and encourage them to
report such cases to relevant authorities.
And finally, our governments should speed up the full recovery of stolen public assets, and
prevent future looting of public resources. This will only be attained through establishing a
country’s comprehensive financial management systems and increasing accountability. We
must learn from our past mistakes and change our tactics and attitudes towards corruption and
bribery. This means that we must develop more sophisticated responses to poor and frail
governance of public resources.

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Ladies and gentlemen, corruption and bribery have become global phenomena played out and
condoned on an international stage. And so, only through full and frank debate on the
tenacity of corruption and bribery caused by years of misrule will we establish pertinent
resolutions. We must all prepare to wrestle this menace through effective implementation of
relevant legislations. I am certain that at this particular forum, we will be introduced to some
common acts on bribery and corruption and effective enactment measures.
Allow me to pay special tribute to countries such as Rwanda and South Africa for
establishing necessary laws to combat corruption related crimes. I echo my strong support to
such countries that are taking important steps towards tackling the problem. Only through
such swift actions by our nations will we ensure good and responsible governance and socio-
economic prosperity.
I trust that by the end of this forum, we shall have established the socio-economic impact of
corruption and bribery in our respective countries. I wish you a productive and an interesting
discussion in the course of this event. Once again, thank you and God bless your nations”.
Words: 1065

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Individual Reflection: Speech on corruption and Bribery
Brief overview
This reflection aim at assimilating existing and new ideas that are related to the main
topic on corruption and bribery. Specifically, the reflection will enhance an individual’s
understanding and development based on creativity and critical discernment of facts on the
advanced topic. Therefore, the reflection on the corruption and bribery speech will expose the
perceived accomplishments and associated challenges using various critical thinking tools.
Explaining key points in the speech using different critical thinking tools
One of the key point that is principal in the speech is the recognition that corruption
and bribery are global phenomena that are particularly predominant in most African
countries. Under this point, the speech writer applies some of Grice’s 4 maxims, for instance,
the maxim of quantity to provide as much information as possible on the topic (Vernon et al.,
2016). This explains why the speech further provides comprehensive accounts and
explanations on how these two menaces have thrived with impunity (Baker, 2010). Also, the
speech applies he maxim of quality by stressing on truthful information that are supported by
available evidence. For example, the speech questions the effectiveness of African countries’
self-capacity to prevent and fight corruption and bribery (Justesen and Bjørnskov, 2014). To
support this assertion, the speech mentions various examples of countries such as Nigeria and
Gambia are provided to further elucidate how countries have been affected as a result of these
two challenges.
The speech further uses the maxim of relation to describe how most African countries
have for the last decades been a direct contrast of democracy and rule of law compared to
other western and more developed nations (Vernon et al., 2016). Such comparisons are
generally pertinent to the discussion as any kind of injustice in the form of corruption and

Speech on Corruption and Bribery 7
bribery have been normalizes and sometimes even celebrated. Other information include the
fact that despite the increased pressure from donor partners and international community to
introduce meaningful reforms towards the same, little has been achieved (Krkač, 2013).
However, there is still hope as most people are becoming extra knowledgeable and aggressive
towards the fight against corruption. Lastly, the speech applies the maxim of manner that
stresses on clarity and orderly organization and flow of information.
Furthermore, the writer uses different argumentative tools to appeal to the readers and
listeners. For example, the writer applies ethos to convince the readers that he has a deep
understanding of the topic (Vernon et al., 2016). This has been attained through the provision
of up-to-date research and specific personal experiences. For instance, the speech provides
information on the current harsher anti-corruption legislations that Nigeria has introduced
aimed at curtailing corruption allegations in the management of the country’s oil and gas
revenue. The writer explains how such legislations are subjecting more cartels and crooked
players to intense scrutiny and intensive observation (Asongu, 2013). According to the
speech, these efforts aim at restoring public confidence in independent government
institutions and instilling a sense of accountability and workmanship in the management of
public resources.
The writer further applies the logical appeal that offers credible evidences to support
varied arguments and augment the audience’s intellect (Vernon et al., 2016). To ascertain
this, the speech explains that there is an inherent need for increased sensitization on the
impact of corruption and bribery. The writer do not give details on how this can be attained
and relies on the audience’s intellect to discern.
While this is largely attributed to the pressure from aid organizations to introduce
meaningful reforms, individual countries’ efforts cannot be ignored whatsoever. A case

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example of how the Nigerian government is currently prohibiting any form of illegal oil and
gas deals that are not duly recognized by the relevant state agencies are provided.
The speech also uses an emotional or passionate appeal to capture the audience’s
attention and concerns. This has been attained through the use of strong sentiments and
connotations to stress on the gravity of the issue being discussed. For instance, the stresses on
the fact that corruption and bribery are complex issues that a society must get right if they are
to attain any social or economic stabilities and progress. The writer attaches the reader’s
dream of a better world that support the very precept of the survival of humanity to a
corruption-free environments. The writer further appeal to the audience to take decisive
actions today towards fighting corruption and bribery to attain such dreams because
ultimately, government transparency can make a huge impact on peoples’ lives.
To further appeal to the audience’s emotions, the writer concentrates on such issues
that directly affect their daily lives as a result of corruption and bribery (Athreya and Mouza,
2017). For example, the speech point at the procurement and recruitment processes in private
and government agencies. While such processes must be based purely on merit, bribes,
favours and other forms of corruption tend to thrive (Cleveland et al., 2009). The speech
gives an example of Gambia where the former president condoned state corruption and
together with his cronies siphoned off the country’s funds to international banks. The current
president of Gambia have taken drastic steps towards improving service delivery and sealing
loopholes in governance that may have helped in propagating the vice. Specifically, the
speech writer aim at convincing the audience that just like the current Gambian government,
they can participate in enacting and implementing laws that can govern procurement and
manage state resources.
Lastly, the speech writer applies three of the Kipling’s 6 questions of critical thinking
to explain various facts. For example, the speech answer the “what” question to explain the

Speech on Corruption and Bribery 9
real problem, measures and postulate various solutions. For example, the speech clearly
stipulates that the establishment of independent anti-corruption agencies has enabled most
African countries to duly prosecute culpable individuals.
The response to the “why” question is that bribery and corruption or any other form of
related activity are majorly perceived to be disdainful in a just society (Cleveland et al.,
2009). The speech answers the “how” question by specifying various actions that states
should assume if they are going to effectively control any malpractice among fraudulent
officials. For example, increased public sensitization campaigns on the dangers of corruption
and bribery should be initiated. Also, according to the speech, when an individual is alleged
to have committed any related act, appropriate legal redresses must be instituted immediately.
Such positive actions have enabled most governments to reduce and weed out cases of
corrupt deals that have had various detrimental effects on its efficient public service delivery.
In addition, the speech recognize that every business transaction must be based on the
acceptable legal precedents and other relevant procedures. Thus, countries should copy the
actions that the Nigerian government established to ensure coherency in its accounts and
auditing systems. This will enable effective check on any form of malpractices propagated by
fraudulent state bureaucrats (Zgheib, 2015).
In summary, the speech clearly answers most of the “what”, “why” and “how”
questions by stipulating that organizations and individuals must strictly comply with the
established integrity requirements in the management of public resources (Athreya and
Mouza, 2017). Consequently, the information provided in this speech should encourage
positive contribution towards efficacious control of corruption and bribery in African
countries and globally.

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References
Asongu, S.A. (2013) ‘Fighting corruption in Africa: do existing corruption-control levels
matter?’ International Journal of Development Issues, 12(1), pp.36-52.
Athreya, B.H. and Mouza, C. (2017) ‘Introduction to Thinking Skills for the Digital
Generation,’ In Thinking Skills for the Digital Generation (pp. 1-10). Springer International
Publishing.
Baker, N. (2010) ‘Bribery and Corruption,’ In-House Persp., 6, p.25.
Cleveland, M., Favo, C.M., Frecka, T.J. and Owens, C.L. (2009) ‘Trends in the international
fight against bribery and corruption,’ Journal of Business Ethics, 90(2), pp.199-244.
Justesen, M.K. and Bjørnskov, C. (2014) ‘Exploiting the poor: Bureaucratic corruption and
poverty in Africa,’ World Development, 58, pp.106-115.
Krkač, K. (2013) ‘Bribery and corruption,’ In Encyclopedia of corporate social
responsibility (pp. 215-222). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Vernon, D., Hocking, I. and Tyler, T.C. (2016) ‘An evidence-based review of creative
problem solving tools: a practitioner’s resource,’ Human resource development review, 15(2),
pp.230-259.
Zgheib, P.W. (2015) ‘Bribery and Corruption,’ In Business Law and Ethics: Concepts,
Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 144-158). IGI Global.