Toby’s blog

Greg Scally, a 2L from the LA area, writes of his work at the Kenya National Chapter of the Berlin-based NGO Transparency International, the leading NGO in the worldwide anti-corruption fight:

“The mission of the organization is to create demand for anti-corruption efforts in Kenya, by conducting and disseminating research geared at enhancing public awareness of corruption in the country and creating solutions to systemically corrupt environments.

“I was originally given a research project entitled ‘Monitoring the Status of the Government of Kenya’s Commitment to Corruption’, requiring my review of various pieces of anti-corruption legislation in existence or under consideration, and suggestions for ways to improve and enforce such legislation. I have also been tracking the extent of the Kenyan government’s domestication of their responsibilities under the UN Convention Against Corruption, which Kenya signed in 2003.

“I found, however, that every piece of legislation and its attendant commentaries included a tacit admission that no anti-corruption efforts would succeed without a simultaneous change in ‘environment,’ a catch-all word encompassing such fuzzy things like values, professionalism, ethics, accountability, norms, and attitudes. After completing my initial review of legislation, I am now engrossed in writing an article trying to analyze and unpack the environmental change necessary for Kenya’s anti-corruption efforts to succeed.”