An EACC survey yesterday named the Interior ministry — especially the Police Service and Traffic Department — as the most corrupt ministries.
The ministry headed by CS Fred Matiang’i was followed by Health, Devolution, Education, Transport and Treasury ministries.
In the EACC’s 2016 Corruption Index, the Kenya Police Service and its Traffic Department, which were surveyed separately, were listed as the most corrupt public institutions.
Read:
The State Department of Interior, Public Hospitals, Registration of Persons, Immigration Department and the Constituency Development Fund followed, respectively.
Areas perceived to be most-prone to corruption include application for IDs, birth certificates, seeking medical attention, registration of title deeds and law enforcement on traffic matters.
The leading forms of corruption are bribery, favouritism and deliberate delay in service provision. The average bribe in the report was Sh7,081, an increase from Sh5,648 in 2015.
The EACC conducted interviews in 5,908 households between August 15 and September 17, 2016.
In the counties category, Murang’a was ranked the most corrupt. It was followed by Trans Nzoia, Mandera, Kirinyaga and Marsabit counties. According to the report, Lamu county has the least corruption. It is followed by Taita Taveta, Tana River and Kericho counties.
The report indicates that most county corruption cases are reported in public works, education, childcare and medical services, finance and planning departments.
Read:
The survey shows that eight out of 10 Kenyans perceive corruption to be high and more than half of them perceive it to be on the increase.
The graft watchdog reported a 10 per cent drop in the level of trust Kenyans have in the government’s commitment to the war on graft.
“Some of the reasons given by the respondents that lead to this perception include lack of action taken on suspects, poor services and disunity in government enforcement agencies,” the survey report shows.
EACC chairman Eliud Wabukala said Kenya is on the right track in the war on corruption. “In 2013, I noticed only one case was concluded in the courts, but in 2017, we had 25 cases that were concluded. I and the CEO signed those cases with the ODPP and it has been a success,” he said.
Wabukala said the EACC recovered assets worth about Sh7.6 billion in 2016-17.