News 2004

Graft: Kenya still among the worst

DAILY NATION
Story by MUGO NJERU
Publication Date: 12/10/2004

Parliament and political parties are ranked by Kenyans as some of the most corrupt institutions, a new report by Transparency International reveals.

The TI Global Corruption Barometer indicate that the police department still tops the list of most corrupt institutions, with the political establishment, political parties and the legislature, following closely in second and third place. 

Other institutions rounding up the top six in the corruption table are the tax/revenue collection services, registry/permit services and the legal system/judiciary.

The report, conducted between July and September, was released yesterday to mark the United Nations International Anti-Corruption. It ranks Kenya among the five most corrupt countries in the world.

 Releasing the survey findings at the National Museum, TI-Kenya Executive Director Gladwell Otieno said political parties and parliament featuring high on the "List of Shame" of the most corrupt institutions revealed how low the political class had fallen in public esteem.

Ms Otieno said that Kenyans had lost faith in the government's anti-corruption rhetoric and want to see action. 

She cited the Anglo Leasing scandal as an example where Kenyans were still waiting to see the culprits punished: "Rhetorical commitments are not enough and nobody believes them any more. Kenyans are still waiting for a clear demonstration of political will. 

"The only way that the message can be driven home that this country's leaders are serious about the fight against corruption is to demonstrate clearly that no one is above the law. This has not been done. On the contrary, impunity and the arrogance of power seem to be rearing their ugly heads again."

Ms Otieno said recent scandals such as those on Parliament's openness to improper lobbying will not have helped the reputation of Kenya's Parliament. 

The report places Kenya in the second bracket behind Cameroun, which is in its own league with over 50 percent of its people engaged in bribery.

Kenya has been placed number two together with Lithuania, Moldova and Nigeria where corruption was found to be ranging between 31 to 40 percent of households report paying a bribe in the past 12 months.

The research sampled 64 countries and was conducted by Gallup International. The Kenyan survey was done by their affiliates, Kenya Steadman Research Services Limited who interviewed 509 urban respondents.

The sharp focus on corruption in the police force, is reflected in the high level of insecurity in the country. 

"As long as bribery plays a significant role in the operations of the Kenya Police Force, it will not be able to effectively perform its core function of guaranteeing the security of the citizens," said the TI-Kenya director. 

The reports finds a close connection between corruption and other burning national issues that have continued to occupy Kenyans.

These include unemployment and poverty, inflation, grand corruption especially by politicians, insecurity, violence and terrorism.

Despite President Kibaki's assurances that the country would remain steadfast in the war against graft, various institutions including foreign missions based in the country have been very critical over the way the Government has been handling the war against the vice.

The report is not much different from the one released last February by TI-Kenya. The Kenya Bribery Index 2003 indicated that corruption still thrived in Government offices despite the governments oft-repeated repeated pledges to fight it.

Although the 2003 study reported a general reduction of frequency of bribes, some organisations were worse off than they were in 2002.

The police department led the pack of the most corrupt followed by the Department of Defence and the state corporations.

The new report spelt out measures it feels must be taken if the country is to repair its dented image:

• Ministers and other leaders should set the example and publish their assets declaration forms voluntarily. Parliament was set to go on recess yesterday yet there was no follow-up on earlier declaration that the information would be made public.

• Mr David Munyakei, the Central Bank clerk who first exposed the Goldenberg scandal, has been condemned to a life of poverty. He should be protected and given back his job. Whistle-blower legislation should be passed.

•  The Official Secrets Act should be repealed and replaced with Freedom of Information Act. 

• The high level of mistrust against political parties and politicians can only be countered by determined efforts to protect and strengthen the integrity of Parliament as a watchdog body. Legislation to regulate the funding of political parties and render then transparent is necessary.

•  The Government should ratify the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. It must move speedily to adopt the necessary measures to implement its ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, without which ratification remains an empty gesture.

They fared most poorly in Ecuador, followed by Argentina, India and Peru. 

At the same time the public rated political parties or grand corruption as a very grave problem, and reported that corruption affected political lives in their countries more than business and private life.

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