A researcher at Integrity Namibia, Tileni Monghudi, says people at the grassroots level must first understand what corruption actually means before they can fight it.

The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), through its anti-corruption project, Integrity Namibia, has been going around the country, educating locals on how to fight corruption.

"I've realized that there is this perception from the public that corruption is only at a high level or that it's an elite central government issue. It has nothing to do with the grassroots. As part of this programme and workshops, we were basically trying to bring them to the fact that they also have a role to play, starting with helping them understand what corruption actually means and how it affects them at a regional and community level."

Monghudi and his team have had four anti-corruption conferences so far, and the last one for the year was in Rundu.

The researcher says issues and concerns surrounding corruption are unique for every region. It's not a blanket approach.

"This top-down approach, where we try to force people to grasp and buy into our ideas from Windhoek or central government, does not work. We must help citizens understand, in their local context, what it means when we say there is corruption or maladministration. Then we move to how we can solve it. It can never be solved by just ACC, the President, the Media, the Ombudsman, or the Prosecutor General. It should be a concerted effort starting with the community. It's pointless if the community does not change their attitude and culture around these issues. We want them to take charge of their own communities and developmental needs."

Kavango East, for example, has had a number of complaints about the allocation of land or a shortage of medicine at health centers.

Monghudi says it is therefore important to educate the ordinary citizen about some of these processes and requirements.

"Whether it's how to apply for a water pipelineor a borehole to come into your village, sometimes certain things happen and people start claiming it's corruption, but it was something done procedurally. We need to start helping them understand that; only then will they be able to flag and say, 'Wait a minute, this is wrong.' Sometimes, the shortage of medicine in their clinic is not necessarily the fault of the national government. It could be that those entrusted to administer that clinic are the ones at fault, but how would you know if you don't understand what allocation is? What is the budget?"

The researcher says involved citizens are able to hold their leaders accountable.

"Ask the Councillor, 'Last year you spoke about the shortage of land. You said you were going to service 50 plots for us. Why are you only having 20? What happened to the budget? What did you do with that money?' If citizens are not involved at that level, they'll never understand, and they'll never be able to pick up and differentiate what is wrong and what is right."