Corruption levels in Kenya almost doubled over the past three years, a report has indicated.
According to the report dubbed National Ethics and Corruption Survey, 2021 by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission the national average bribe increased considerably from Sh3,833.14 in 2018 to stand at Sh5,889.89 in 2021.
The report further revealed that service seekers in Narok County paid the highest average bribe of Sh42,652.96 followed by those in Mombasa with Sh23,387.50, Mandera with Sh13,168.13 and Nyandarua with Sh11,109.09.
Service seekers in Nyamira County paid the least average bribe of Sh453.64 followed by those in Meru County (Sh814.66), Isiolo County (Sh850.00) and Vihiga County (Sh978.15).
Seeking government funds such as Uwezo/Youth/Women/Elderly/PWD/HSNP attracted the largest bribe (Sh60,033.37) followed by seeking employment (Sh30,110.92), seeking a job transfer (Sh25,000), seeking medical attention (Sh21,888.15) and obtaining a death certificate (Sh19,290.89).
This is even as the payment of bribes declined to 16.5 per cent for those who were asked to pay to receive a government service compared to 73.1 per cent in the previous survey.
Of those who were asked to pay a bribe to be served by the public officer, 83.5 per cent declined to pay the bribes.
Mandera County had the highest incidents of bribe payment with 34.4 per cent of the respondents followed by Narok at 30.1 per cent, Nakuru at 26.7 per cent and Elgeyo-Marakwet at 25.8 per cent while instances of bribe payment were lowest in Marsabit County 1.1 per cent followed by Tharaka-Nithi County 4.8 per cent, Embu County 6.6 per cent and Nyeri County 7.3 per cent.
The report by EACC further ranked the Ministry of Health as the top institution most prone to corruption with 18.8 per cent of the respondents surveyed followed by the Chiefs/Village elders (14.3 per cent), Registrar of Persons (12.9 per cent), Department of Civil Registration (10.3 per cent), Public Hospitals/dispensary (9.3%), Regular Police (7.8 per cent), Huduma Centers (7.7 per cent) and Ministry of Lands (4.5 per cent).
Seeking medical services was the service most prone to corruption at 27.8 per cent followed by registration/collection/renewal of national Identification Card at 14.8 per cent, application/collection of Birth Certificate at 14 per cent, processing of a bursary at 6.9 per cent, processing a Police abstract at 4.2 per cent, bailing of arrested individuals at 4.1 per cent and solving a land conflict at 4 per cent.
Delay in service provision prompted 44.5 per cent of the respondents to pay bribes to hasten up a service while 41.4 per cent paid because it was the only way they could access a service. Further 10.6 per cent of the respondents indicated that they paid a bribe because it was expected.
Further, registration and or collection of a Land Title Deed attracted the highest average number of times bribe was demanded at 5.35 times followed by seeking a driving license (4.53 times), obtaining a tender (4 times), seeking police security/protection (3.4 times), application for a passport (3.2 times) and seeking employment (3.0 times).
The findings also revealed that one is more likely to encounter corruption and unethical practices in the Ministry of Interior and coordination of National Government (42.4 per cent) followed by the Ministry of Health (19.7 per cent), Ministry of Lands and physical planning (11.7 per cent), Ministry of Education (8.3 per cent) and Ministry of Defense (7.6 per cent).
The report ranked the Kenya Police as the first among government Departments and Agencies where one is most likely to encounter corruption and unethical practices with 82.1 per cent followed by the Registration of Persons (25.2 per cent), Immigration Department (17.3 per cent), Directorate of Land (8.5%), Department of Devolution (7.9 per cent), National Land Commission (6.8 per cent), Department of Education (6.7 per cent) and Kenya Defense Forces (6.4 per cent).
The respondents ranked Private broadcasting services (55.1 per cent), religious organizations (52.4 per cent), and public broadcasting services (48.8 per cent) among the highest stakeholders in whom they had confidence, regarding the fight against corruption and unethical practices.
The executive (36.5 per cent and civil society such as Transparency International and Katiba Institute (30.5 per cent) also had high confidence ratings among institutions.
The Police (76.3 per cent), Members of the County Assembly (68.5 per cent), Members of the National Assembly (64.1 per cent), County Assemblies (64 per cent) and Governors (63.4 per cent) ranked lowest in confidence regarding the fight against corruption and unethical practices.
Among those who were aware of EACC, 46.2 per cent were informed through listening to the radio, 25.2 per cent watching television, 11.2 per cent through print media such as newspapers, journals and magazines and 9.7 per cent through social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter among others.
Radio remained the lead source of information on corruption and unethical conduct in the past 12 months with a preference level of 86.7 per cent followed by Television with 72.5 per cent, social media with 24 per cent and newspapers with 14.8 per cent.
Further, radio (44.8 per cent), Television (38 per cent) and social media (7.6 per cent) were ranked as the top most reliable sources of information on corruption and unethical conduct.
Vernacular radio stations
The report further stated that vernacular radio stations were the most listened to by 35.6 per cent of the respondents followed by Radio Citizen (18.0 per cent), Radio Jambo (9.8 per cent) and Radio Maisha (7.5 per cent) while Citizen Television was the most widely watched at 55.4 per cent of the respondents followed by KTN (6.3 per cent) and NTV (5.0 per cent). The Daily Nation Newspaper recorded the highest preference rate of 61.3 per cent followed by the Standard Newspaper (25.9 per cent) and Taifa Leo (4.1 per cent)
Whatsapp was the most preferred social media platform as mentioned by 45.6 per cent of the respondents followed by Facebook (31.1 per cent), Twitter (3.6 per cent) and Youtube (1.5 per cent)
Major Problems Facing the Country Unemployment (56.2 per cent) ranked first as the most important issue facing the country today followed by poverty (48 per cent), corruption (43.7 per cent), high cost of living (25.8 per cent) and poor infrastructure including bad roads and lack of electricity (12.8 per cent).
