President William Ruto is trailing his regional counterparts Samia Suluhu of Tanzania and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda in fighting crime. The Afrobarometer report has revealed.
The report released on Monday placed the Government of Kenya at position 10 in terms of government performance judged by policies put in place to reduce crime. The state got a 46 per cent approval rating, below average.
In comparison, Tanzania emerged second with a 74 per cent approval rating while Uganda was in position eight with 57 per cent.
Benin led the ranking with a 77 per cent rating followed by Tanzania, Sierra Leone (63 per cent), Togo (62 per cent), Zambia (60 per cent), Mali (60 per cent), Niger (59 per cent, Uganda and Mauritania (57 per cent).
The respondents in 39 countries were asked, "How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the following matters, or haven’t you heard enough to say: Reducing crime?"
The ranking also painted a grim picture of Kenyan police officers' performance on the continental scale.
In terms of collecting bribes, 52 percent of Kenyan respondents admitted to paying the police for assistance placing Kenya at position nine on the ranking.
18 per cent of Kenyans, on the other hand, revealed that Kenyan police do not conduct themselves professionally while 38 per cent of Kenyans insisted that police officers engage in criminal activities.
Continent-wide, the findings of the report concluded that a third of Africans believe that their police usually operate professionally and respect citizens’ rights.
"Among respondents who sought police assistance during the previous year, 54 per cent say it was easy to get the help they needed, but 36 per cent say they had to pay a bribe. Among those who encountered the police in other situations, 37 per cent report having to pay a bribe to avoid problems, ranging from 1 per cent in Cabo Verde to 70 per cent in Liberia," read the findings in part.
"Fewer than four in 10 citizens (37 per cent) say their government is doing “fairly well” or “very well” at reducing crime, ranging from just 10 per cent in Sudan to 77 per cent in Benin."
Afrobarometer describes itself as a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.
