In response to my post on corruption a few days ago, a sharp minded theologian asked me this question; how does individual acknowledgement of our state of corruption translate into addressing the dire state of our government’s systemic corruption?
What I did not say in my other post was that there are two imperatives we need to address to have any hope of rooting out systemic corruption in our country.
The first is justice; those who have looted our hard-earned taxes must receive due punishment.
The second is renewal; governmental systems, especially in procurement, have been corroded beyond recognition. They need to be redesigned.
The basic premise of my argumentation is informed by this my Christian worldview that behind every system of endemic corruption are spiritual strongholds. The Ezekiel 28 narrative is the clearest in providing us with a look behind the scenes of governmental authorities, from God’s perspective.
The implication of this is that it does not matter who we put in government, even our very own Christian brothers and sisters, because of these spiritual strongholds behind the governmental seat, they will be corrupted. This is systems thinking pure and simple. Zambia, in particular, learnt this truth the hard way.
So, if we are to see justice and renewal, we must start with ourselves. When we as the church extend scrutiny to ourselves and repent of our own corruption, we will weaken the spiritual strongholds behind the governmental seat. Rotten apples will fall of the tree on their own and those who labour for righteousness in government with find breathing space to pursue justice and renewal.
Until then, we are just on a politicking ride to nowhere!