Corruption: An Impediment to Public Service Delivery in Africa

Abstract

Corruption in Public Services is as old as the history of any country in Africa. While the proponent of the war against corruption in Africa has concluded that corruption is another pandemic that has no geographical border and an ugly facet of every society hindering an effective and sound public service delivery at all aspects of civil servants’ engagement in Africa. It has been identified as one of the banes to the country's economic growth, good governance, and administrative advancement of the country thereby impacting negatively services delivery in any human engagement.

Corruption not only undermines the fulfilment of the great potentials of the masses who are the victims of maladministration, and poor quality of service delivery but banes the country's economic growth, good governance, and administrative advancement of the country.

This paper is grounded on the premise that there is a very strong connection and interrelation between endemic corruption in delivering public services which hitherto obstructed the abilities of most African countries to enjoy good governance and service delivery. No doubt that it is the main inability of any government in Africa to provide good services and infrastructural development leading to lack of deficiencies in public service deliveries and dividends of democratic values and benefits. 

As the paper addresses factors promulgating corruption and obstructing development in the areas of democratic values, socioeconomic growth, and administrative efficiencies exasperating the attainment of good governance in Africa and sound delivery of public services. Lastly, the paper adopted an explanatory research method to challenge the causes of endemic corruption in the public services sector and induces ethical good governance, and finally, offers key solutions to deficiencies in Governance and the administrative processes among African countries.