P. Njeru Njuno
Swimming Against the Culture of Corruption is, as the title suggests, intended to fight corruption, which has been one of the societal ills in Kenya. It is intended to point out to the ordinary Kenyan that he or she has a responsibility to deal with this evil and not to wait for political leaders to change the culture of corruption exclusively by themselves. “Culture” in this book is used in its wider meaning as to include such things as lies, which is corruption of truth.I have argued that fighting corruption calls for personal sacrifice, and I have demonstrated this with my personal experience and testimony. That was the purpose of telling my short life story in order to encourage others to come out and tell their stories as well in dealing with the rampant corruption in our society, which is to be found at all levels. Equally, the book argues that legislated law alone cannot deal with the problem as long as corrupt practices have been embedded in our culture. At the same time, I have argued that the culture of corruption is not inherently African. That, whereas its genesis may be traced in the twentieth-century colonization of our country by the British, the real practice as exercised by Kenyans against one another is, indeed, a post-Independence phenomena.In arguing the case of the power and efficacy of culture in determining the destiny of a society, I have said that we need to change our culture, and that by doing so, we shall be reverting to our truly African culture of integrity. 3
