International Journal of Philosophy

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The Ethical and Social Implications of Age-Cheating in Africa

Received: 23 December 2014    Accepted: 25 January 2015    Published: 03 February 2015
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Abstract

This paper examines the ethical and social implications of a particular form of corruption in Africa—age-cheating. Although age-cheating is a global issue, it has received very little academic attention from social philosophers. In this paper I argue that there exists an inextricable link between bad governance, economic hardship, and the collapse of moral values in most African countries. Using Cameroon as an example, I maintain that age-cheating is one of the several corrupt ways citizens in most post-colonial African states use as a way out of unemployment, chronic poverty, and political and economic deprivation. Also, age-cheating is common in African countries where the civil registration system is either archaic or completely inexistent. I argue for the view that a vibrant democratic culture would help to promote values like accountability, transparency, and the rule of law which may enhance governance and economic development as democracy promotes political and economic rights and freedoms. In this direction, I suggest that, in tandem with democracy, the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) may be helpful in improving transparency in the domain of civil registration in particular and state governance in general.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijp.20150301.11
Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 3, Issue 1, February 2015)
Page(s) 1-11
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Age-Cheating, Ethics, Economic Hardship, Biometric Registration, Good Governance, Africa, Cameroon

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Philosophy, Higher Teacher Training College Bambili, The University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon

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    Mbih Jerome Tosam. (2015). The Ethical and Social Implications of Age-Cheating in Africa. International Journal of Philosophy, 3(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20150301.11

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    Mbih Jerome Tosam. The Ethical and Social Implications of Age-Cheating in Africa. Int. J. Philos. 2015, 3(1), 1-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20150301.11

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    Mbih Jerome Tosam. The Ethical and Social Implications of Age-Cheating in Africa. Int J Philos. 2015;3(1):1-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20150301.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijp.20150301.11,
      author = {Mbih Jerome Tosam},
      title = {The Ethical and Social Implications of Age-Cheating in Africa},
      journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-11},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20150301.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20150301.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20150301.11},
      abstract = {This paper examines the ethical and social implications of a particular form of corruption in Africa—age-cheating. Although age-cheating is a global issue, it has received very little academic attention from social philosophers. In this paper I argue that there exists an inextricable link between bad governance, economic hardship, and the collapse of moral values in most African countries. Using Cameroon as an example, I maintain that age-cheating is one of the several corrupt ways citizens in most post-colonial African states use as a way out of unemployment, chronic poverty, and political and economic deprivation. Also, age-cheating is common in African countries where the civil registration system is either archaic or completely inexistent. I argue for the view that a vibrant democratic culture would help to promote values like accountability, transparency, and the rule of law which may enhance governance and economic development as democracy promotes political and economic rights and freedoms. In this direction, I suggest that, in tandem with democracy, the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) may be helpful in improving transparency in the domain of civil registration in particular and state governance in general.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AB  - This paper examines the ethical and social implications of a particular form of corruption in Africa—age-cheating. Although age-cheating is a global issue, it has received very little academic attention from social philosophers. In this paper I argue that there exists an inextricable link between bad governance, economic hardship, and the collapse of moral values in most African countries. Using Cameroon as an example, I maintain that age-cheating is one of the several corrupt ways citizens in most post-colonial African states use as a way out of unemployment, chronic poverty, and political and economic deprivation. Also, age-cheating is common in African countries where the civil registration system is either archaic or completely inexistent. I argue for the view that a vibrant democratic culture would help to promote values like accountability, transparency, and the rule of law which may enhance governance and economic development as democracy promotes political and economic rights and freedoms. In this direction, I suggest that, in tandem with democracy, the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) may be helpful in improving transparency in the domain of civil registration in particular and state governance in general.
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