According to the National Ethics and Corruption Survey 2018 released by the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission EACC on November 19, the Kenya Police Service has for another year been ranked the most corrupt institution in the country.
The report indicated that 39 per cent of instances of corruption were recorded to happen at the service.
The report further shows that Kenya Power came in second at 12 per cent while the National Hospital Insurance Fund NHIF was third at 11 per cent.
Other institutions adversely mentioned in the survey include Office of The Registrar of Persons, public hospitals at 19.9 per cent, police stations at 19.7 per cent, chief’s offices at 16 per cent and Ministry of Lands offices at 6 per cent.
Other offices that were mentioned include county government offices, Huduma Centres, DO’s offices, CDF offices and KRA offices.
The survey also indicated that 73.1 per cent of Kenyans paid bribes in 2018, an increase of 11.9 per cent compared to a similar period the previous year.
Surprisingly, 94 per cent of Kenyans who were asked for bribes did not make an effort to report the incidents to the necessary authorities, an indication that majority of Kenyans have already been accustomed to the vice.
The top reasons given by respondents as justifications for giving bribes included quick service delivery, assistance in securing job opportunities, and avoidance of problems with authorities.
Other reasons were greed, access to illegal services, access to medical services, and seeking favourable judicial rulings.
However, the average bribe paid per individual has dropped from Ksh 5,058 in 2017 to Ksh 3,833, the lowest ever recorded in the country.
The survey, conducted in 47 counties and administered to 5,942 household respondents, involved 10 key informants and was conducted from November 16 to December 19, 2018.
The EACC intends to establish an efficient framework for receiving corruption claims, public education of the effects of corruption as well as supporting existing anti-corruption initiatives by public institutions.
