Fighting Corruption in Africa – The Conditio Sine Qua Non for Responsible Management

Abstract

The fight against corruption is a necessary precondition for the civil and economic development of a country.

Corruption is a kind of social injustice based on a moral vice, as Thomas Aquinas explained in his Summa Theologiae.

There have been many social injustices throughout history, and this specific form that is corruption has emerged prevalent especially in the last 100 years with the growth of the state apparatus and its pervasiveness in most areas of society’s life (Thomas & Meyer, 1984).

Fighting corruption requires adequate laws and public strategies, but a public ‘system’ is not enough: individuals must also be educated in morality.

This appreciation of morality was the ideal of the political prophet Giuseppe Mazzini, who had disciples all over the world, including the Pan-African leaders Lembede and Nkrumah. This ‘spiritualist’ philosophy does not devalue the economy, but it does not put it first, because it believes that without a deep-rooted morality in individuals nothing can flourish, not even the economy and its management. In this critique to economism, Mazzini differed from both Marxism and capitalist liberalism.

The deepest level of moral education is not built in the universities, but in the family, parents are the first educators of honest citizens. In this ideal Mazzini’s teaching can be met with a suggestion from the Ubuntu philosophy.

Citation

Manni, F. (2022), "Fighting Corruption in Africa – The Conditio Sine Qua Non for Responsible Management", Ogunyemi, K., Ogunyemi, O. and Anozie, A. (Ed.) Responsible Management in Africa, Volume 2: Ethical Work and Sustainability, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 13-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-493-220221004