Rethinking political corruption and ideology within African communalism

This work explores the nuances of corruption as a phenomenon and a perception within the African ideological space. It focuses on communalism as the political ideology the various ethnic groups in African societies embrace. In this study, we aim to employ an ethical approach to explore how the moral obligations to the communal ideology, such as solidarity, inter-connectedness and humanness, influence the phenomenon and perception of corruption. It seeks to use the ethical theories of deontology and consequentialism as a lens to establish that the political ideology of communalism has an eclectic approach to moral determination, which in turn affects corruption in practice and perception. Thus, the study goes beyond the institutional enablers and focuses on moral character, ethical conceptualisations and fidelity in the face of moral obligations.