Political Corruption in Africa: Revisiting Kwame Gyekye’s Moral Solution

Abstract

Abstract The paper examines Kwame Gyekye’s defense of commitmental moral revolution as a solution to the problem of political corruption in postcolonial Africa. In his book; Tradition and Modernity, Gyekye argues that the problem of political corruption in Africa can mainly be solved by commitmental moral revolution. However, there is a fundamental worry about the applicability of this proposal. The worry is that despite Gyekye’s suggested solution, why is it that the problem of political corruption still persists in Africa on a large-scale? Is this persistence of political corruption in postcolonial Africa not a refutation of Gyekye’s main claim? This paper provides answers to these questions. The paper identifies the reason why Gyekye’s suggested solution may be ineffective in postcolonial Africa. It argues that the problem of political corruption in Africa (Nigeria to be specific) is a function of social acceptability of the phenomenon. Primarily, the paper intends to achieve two main objectives. First, to critically assess Gyekye’s commitmental moral revolution, and also, to argue that failure to address the question of social acceptability of corruption in Africa, Gyekye’s suggested solution to corruption may continue to be of no effect. The paper concludes that commitmental moral revolution is necessary but not sufficient in addressing the problem of political corruption in postcolonial Africa.