CORPORATE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY

The laws that guide corporations in this country, are to say the least, archaic and outdated and I hope now that we have a new constitution, that has provision for the replacement of the current Attorney General and Chief Justice,  parliament  will play its rightful role and live up to our expectations by  repealing and amending all the laws as necessary. Corruption in this country has almost become a way of life with political leaders amassing lots of wealth which they use to bribe voters so as to stay in power longer and thwart any moves towards scrutiny of their commercial deals including accumulation of obscene levels of wealth. Yet we expect those same people as our lawmakers to make stringent laws that will rein-in  malpractices that  lead to further escalation of corruption. I think that's wishful thinking that can best  be left to the birds! Some of our leaders are said to have offshore bank accounts and are also associated with companies that are incorporated in tax havens such Jersey, Cayman and the Isle of Man. It beats common sense why citizens would elect such persons to  parliament or even higher offices because if they are not comfortable keeping their money within the country, why should we entrust them with the heavy and sensitive role of watching over our security?
On the other hand, when we look at  some of the companies operating in this country, you will find even local companies incorporated in one of the tax havens overseas so that the don't pay the necessary taxes. If there is such thing as corporate social responsibility (CSR), then I suppose that there should also be corporate moral responsibility (CMR) to guide such organizations on their conduct. However we know that in CSR and PR, companies will be quick to donate a shilling here and a cent there to hoodwink citizens, who are expected  not to look the gift horse in the mouth, as it were. But how many corporations are involved in self audit to ensure compliance to tax returns, payment of salaries and wages that are reasonable, work environments that are humane, preventive measures of corruption when pitching for business and tenders and ensuring the bulk of  wealth generated in a particular country is used within its borders? I think none particularly in this country. In that case, can we really win the war on corruption if our target is only individuals without including corporations where billions of shillings are transacted annually?
The top companies in this country are Safaricom, Barclays Bank and East African Breweries by way capitalisation . Incidentally, their majority shareholders are outside this country, meaning that the bulk of declared profits every year has to find its way out, despite that the money comes from the poorest of the villagers in the remotest parts of this country. Is it not fair if, say 75% ,of that money remained with the producers? However, to be fair to these public quoted companies, we are aware that there are many other privately owned companies that make very huge profits and the bulk of that end up  out there because of our lax and outdated corporate laws. That's a great shame.
Before even Wiki Leaks reported that the American Embassy in Nairobi had described our country as a swamp of corruption, it was common knowledge, the only difference being that it came from a foreign friendly country. Some of the top political leaders in this country have been described before as some of the wealthiest people in the world yet we are a poor third world country. Where these leaders got their obscene wealth is a matter of conjecture, however,  we know that their salaries alone by any imagination can never make them rich in a  lifetime. Therefore, we can safely conclude that their source of wealth is illegal and at worst could be linked to corrupt dealings. I don't think such people are fit for those high offices and it's high time we reined-in such lapses in our electoral system if we are to win the war on corruption.
Finally, I hope this business of citizens and corporations repatriating large amounts of money and stashing it in offshore  bank accounts is going to stop otherwise we may continue enjoying direct foreign investment from outside but we may never benefit from it. That together with  local companies incorporating outside in tax havens has to cease.