03.06.07 The 6th Organisational Consequence of Corruption

6. Depletion of National Wealth

Corruption can lead to depletion of a nation’s wealth.  For instance, a person could sign a contract granting a foreign investor the rights to excavate and export minerals with no value added, caring less that the country’s natural wealth is being depleted with minimal or zero benefit to the present and future generations.  Others, like Daudi, may be linked to corrupt personnel who are shamelessly siphoning taxpayers’ money to accumulate wealth; which of course reduces the funds that would have otherwise been used to boost the country’s assets.  The same set of criminals may bribe the tax regulatory officers so as to evade taxes which would have otherwise been used to accumulate valuables, resources or goods for the country.  Yet another path through which corruption could deplete a nation’s resources is where officials working in tax regulatory authorities are bribed to under-assess taxes.  When tax collections fall below targets, a nation can no longer implement its wealth creation programs.   Another way that corruption depletes national wealth is where suppliers struggle to deliver goods and services using budgets that have been slashed to accommodate kickbacks from corrupt officials.  More often than not, the supplier has no alternative but to use substandard materials or inputs that fit into his or her constrained budget.  That could explain the reason why some roads that were meant to last for decades develop potholes after only a few years.  You may recall how the corrupt company, Delph Construction, failed to deliver against a ‘road-building’ tender that had been awarded by BORA Development Corporation.  Needless to say, corrupt officials hardly care about the world that their children and grandchildren will inherit.  Such people suffer from a ‘Let’s eat and be merry for tomorrow we die’ – mentality mentioned in Isaiah 22:13.  Whilst their workmates may describe those officers as ‘wise’, Luke 12:13-21 brands them as fools!