Friday, April 20, 2007

The under world of crime

Over the past week as I was going through some journals, it came to my attention that there is a general rise of white collar crimes. These are crimes which involves the penetration of business transactions by corruption, involving kickbacks, fraud and extortion in the developed and developing world. It is an endemic problem, which is believed to be costing countries of billions, with countries in the Sub- Sahara Africa being by and large immensely affected. However in South Africa although crimes of that nature do not receive the focus accorded to violent, interpersonal street crimes for various reasons. The recent developments in both private and public institutions highlight the need to declare serious economic offenses as priority crime.

2 comments:

Susan Mwangi said...

These "bloodless" white-collar crimes are part of Africa's undoing. Media reports on the cash stashed in off-shore accounts by our African leaders are mind-boggling. Corporates are not innocent either. But, I am just wondering, whose responsibility is it to investigate, prosecute and report these fraudulent activities? Who will bring these [mostly powerful and smart]criminals to book?

Ijeoma Uche-Okeke said...

I don't even want to comment on issues around white-collar crimes because that will immediately lead to corrupt practices, and the entrenchment of corruption by President Ibrahim Babangida in Nigeria. It is really quite shameful that African leaders see their countries as 'meal' tickets in the sense of empowering themselves, as well as lining their pockets ad infinitum. Where does nation-building feature in their mandates?