Getting All Tangled-up in Red Tape

Debilitating Bureaucracy
We were all surprised some days ago to read about top-of-the-range cars rusting away at the Judiciary compound. Some fellows are reported to be vandalising the vehicles for parts. By now, the cars could have lost most of their value and if they remain where they are, they may end up only being worth their weight in scrap metal. That is the price we have to pay for bureaucracy. Nobody can make a move on properly disposing of the vehicles without following a long and virtually obsolete process. So, why bother?

Stuck in the Past

My father worked as a civil servant for decades until his retirement. He had learnt the British way of keeping impeccable records of everything. Systems worked then and although they may appear primitive compared to today’s technological advances, they were more than adequate back in the day. It is actually quite surprising to learn that the government during those days kept ahead of the private sector in terms of technological advancement.

In the present day however, the government always seems to be playing catch-up with everybody else in terms of innovation. This is the reason why even disposing a used battery becomes a major issue requiring signatures from very high up. This leads to those concerned just letting things rust away because they don’t want to be accused of trying to pilfer them.

Fear of Simplicity

There appears to be a perception among modern Kenyans that if a process is too simple, then it is not authentic. Every simple process has been made into a maze of details which the operators insist have to be done one after the other in a pre-determined order. If there is any omission of one step whose significance cannot be explained, the whole process has to be repeated with even more steps; ostensibly to safeguard against irregularities (my foot!)

Reinventing the Innovation Wheel

If you attend the myriad workshops by government and other organisations, you will hear such jargon as ‘lessons learnt’ and ‘best practice’. What they mean in Layman’s terms is that when you are trying to do something that has been done before, you need to utilise any knowledge gleaned by those who did it before you. A few of these best practice advocates however use prior knowledge. They all want to get their own experience first-hand. They will therefore commission their own expensive feasibility studies and baseline surveys even though other people have done them countless times before. They have this unexplained need to reinvent the innovation wheel.

No Mentorship

People normally retire on the attainment of the maximum age for working in a particular organisation. Their positions are then taken up by younger people who have been prepared for those duties. The best proven way of having a smooth transition when a person leaves a job, due to retirement or other reasons, is a mentorship program. Workers, particularly those in senior positions, are encouraged to mentor possible replacements who will take over when they leave.

It has been observed that many people don’t like mentoring younger workers to take over when they leave. They reason that nobody helped them get where they are and so anybody wanting a promotion has to go through the same tedious process as they did. The lobbying and politics that the scrambling for a soon-to-be-vacant position generates becomes the recipe for a big tangled-up roll of red-tape.

Groundwork for Corruption

I have noted that most of the grand corruption schemes entail elaborate planning. The tracks are then hidden under heaps of red-tape. This is the reason why even after discovering that money has been stolen, it takes long (or never) to identify the perpetrators. A big spool of red-tape is usually a red-flag for corruption ongoing or in the offing. So I guess red-tape is either good or bad depending on which side you are on.