A true story:
After having gone through the brief of a commercial dispute, a partner of a legal firm said to its client (a public listed company), "We have a very good case, we advise you to proceed to litigation."
The client gave instructions to the legal firm to proceed with litigation but they lost the case at the High Court. The lawyer reassured its client and said again, "We have a very good case and should appeal to the Court of Appeal."
Again they lost and again the lawyer repeated the same mantra and the case proceeded to the Supreme Court where they lost again, without any avenue for further appeal.
After having lost the case and TWO MILLION DOLLARS IN LEGAL FEES, it dawned on the client that the word "We" in the sentence "We have a good case" was actually referring to the legal firm and not the client!
Likewise, when the politicians say, "We are leaving a legacy" what they actually mean is that they, the politicians, are leaving a legacy for their own next of kin!
You are most likely spot on with this as most of the officials are so corrupt and the $ counts for way more than common sense.
Corruption has been a curse of the developing countries. This does not mean the developed countries are free of corruption. Just that it is subtle and not pervasive.
Corruption is rife in countries where political issues center around race, religion, gender, sex and not development or social and economic well being of its populace. Race, religion, gender and sex issues are smokescreens to fool the gullible citizens.