The UN Convention on Corruption
Jubilee Centre November 3rd, 2009
The UN call for the convention on corruption later this month presupposes that each country in the world has a legal authority power that is exercised through legally defined structures for the good of a nation. In Zambia, on the Supreme Court lawns we have a statue of a woman standing with her eyes blindfolded and a sword in her hands. This statue is supposed to symbolize a fact that officials operating these structures will exercise the powers of the office by treating every Zambian impersonally, according to criteria that the structures demand, but African structures are in total contrast to the meaning of this statue.
In Africa our style of operation is based on the kind of authority a father has over his children or the chief has over his subjects. For example, an African traditional chief does not commit adultery but only enjoys his subjects. Those lower in the chain of command are not subordinate officials with defined powers and functions of their own, but retainers whose position depends on a leader to whom they owe loyalty or allegiance. The systems in African countries are held together by loyalty or kinship ties rather than through legally defined regulations. In our culture it is difficult to fight corruption because there is no distinction between public and private.
When heads of state or ministers or chiefs do not make distinctions between private and public property their activities hurt the nation both politically and spiritually. God’s command in Deuteronomy 17
: 14-20 was that the king was to be an upright person, who was prohibited to accumulate a great number of horses or large amounts of silver and gold while also being forbidden to take many wives. King Solomon violated this commandment. The more he accumulated chariots, horses, a huge harem, and incredible wealth the more people became poor. This created unrest and soon conditions become ripe for a revolution. Also the influence of his pagan wives in the public life of Israel accelerated the spiritual and political corruption of the nation. Do you see any correlation here with African nations? African leaders enter politics to make wealth while leaders in the west join the private sector if they want to create wealth.
Given this obstacle in the fight against corruption in Africa what should the Christians be doing to respond? We too live in this culture and Jesus calls us to proclaim his kingdom means that his healing must also be offered to our culture. Perhaps our greatest problem with a Christian cultural witness is the belief by a certain section of Christians that people become wealthy because they are living rightly before God and people are poor because they lack faith or are living in sin. This is not true because most poverty of our people is related to corruption. A Christian approach to corruption related to poverty speaks truth to this situation. The approach is risky and dangerous, however, in the long run; Christians incur greater risk by not taking action. Mordecai reminded Esther that if she sat back and did nothing on behalf of the Jews, she might miss out on God’s purpose for her life.
The UN convention has minimal impact in the Zambian fight against corruption. The real impact will come from the hands of Christians working in the public offices throughout this continent who understand God’s purpose for their lives and are seizing the opportunity to make a difference. These Christians are aware that at times when a person is living for God the presence of persecution and suffering also follow. Their greatest concern however, is that they be found true to the confession that Christ is Lord of all life. They live for him because of the gift they have received from him-it is the gift of salvation freely offered by God. Let us pray for all those Christians in government offices that they will not bow down to the idol of corruption.
Lawrence Temfwe
