Psychology and Corruption: The East African Experience

Abstract

Psychology refers to the study of the mind while corruption refers to the act of abuse of office through bribery, nepotism, segregation, Psychology refers to the study of the mind while corruption refers to the act of abuse of office through bribery, nepotism, segregation, favouritism. It is the abuse of entrusted power for private gains. The social psychological drivers of this behavior still remain largely unknown. The study was underpinned by the Theory of Rational Choice. Research has revealed that psychological factors are very crucial determinants of unethical conduct such as cheating and lying. The East African region is well known globally in corruption circles. Among the main factors hampering the attempts to fight corruption are: lack of the political will and poor democracy levels in the countries’ governments. The mostrecent2018 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International shows that Rwanda remains the least corrupt country followed by Tanzania and Kenya while Burundi is the most corrupt in the region. Uganda’s global position is 152 out of 180 countries globally and it is the second to Burundi in the region. The paper will show how corruption is a matter of the mind as psychology is meant to be its study and review reports such as Transparency International and others to show the extent to which the vice has eaten the moral fabric in the institutions in the region. The paper will further attempt the main causes of corruption and highlight the challenges in the fight against corruption in the region. Lastly, the paper will make suggestions on how to change the mindsets of bureaucrats engaged in corruption shall also be made. Keywords: Psychology, Corruption, Transparency, Segregation, East African region..