Despite President Uhuru Kenyatta’s renewed effort to fight graft, Transparency International's corruption index
shows that the country is getting worse.
The
released on Tuesday shows Kenya has dropped one point in the global Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018.
The
country has obtained a score of 27 out of 100, a decline from 28 points scored in 2017.
TI Executive Director Samuel Kimeu said in the report that the executive has denied Kenyans public participation on national policies, which created avenues for graft activities.
“In the past five years, Kenya’s score has ranged between 25 and 28, having scored 28 in 2017, 26 in 2016, and 25 in 2015 and 2014, demonstrating that efforts to tackle corruption have borne little results,” TI Chair
Delia Rubio said.
The report places Kenya at position 144 out of 180 countries.
“The analysis shows a disturbing link between corruption and the health of democracies, where countries with higher rates of corruption also have weaker democratic institutions and political rights,” Kimeu said in the statement.
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Kenya has now dropped far behind Tanzania to the same level as Uganda followed closely by Burundi and Somalia.
Rwanda is ranked highest in the East African region and less corrupt garnering 56 points.
It is followed a distant second by Tanzania with 36, Kenya and Uganda scoring 27 and Burundi with 17 points.
“Zero is highly corrupt while 100 very clean. The report measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in countries and territories worldwide,” the report said.
Kimeu added that Kenya’s score is below the global average of 43 and Sub Saharan Africa’s mean of 32.
“It is a composite index, a combination of surveys and assessments of corruption which is collected by a variety of reputable institutions,” he said.
The CPI highlights top countries are Denmark and New Zealand with scores of 88 and 87, respectively.
The bottom countries are Somalia, Syria and South Sudan with scores of 10, 13 and 13, in that order.
“Our research makes a clear link between having a healthy democracy and successfully fighting public sector corruption,”
Delia said.
“Corruption is much more likely to flourish where democratic foundations are weak and, as we have seen in many countries, where undemocratic and populist politicians can use it to their advantage.”
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