The counties of Nairobi, Nakuru, Machakos, Baringo and Busia are some of the most corrupt in the country with those seeking services likely to be asked for bribes in order to be attended to.
This is according to the latest survey released by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 on corruption and bribery trends in the country.
According to the National Ethics and Corruption Survey (NECS) 2023, Busia County leads in the counties where one is likely to be asked for a bribe.
EACC notes that in Busia County for instance, each time a service is sought in the county, one is likely to be asked for a bribe 2.02 times. In Baringo, Nairobi, Nakuru and Machakos, one is likely to be asked for a bribe 1.34 times, 1.12 times, 1.11 times and 1.09 times respectively.
EACC notes that the report focused on trends, magnitude, likelihood, prevalence, and impact of corruption and unethical conduct in the country to develop the rankings.
“Busia, Baringo, Nairobi, Nakuru and Machakos counties are the five most bribery-prone counties. This means those seeking services in these counties are likely to be asked for bribes to get the services,” the report notes, adding that Nyamira county was also one of the most bribe-prone counties.
On the flipside however, the counties where one was least likely to be asked to pay a bribe for services are Nandi (0.50), Nyeri (0.49), Vihiga (0.47), Embu (0.43) and lastly Lamu (0.40).
On the prevalence of bribe payment in counties, Nyamira, Baringo, Siaya, Bungoma and Turkana are the five counties where bribery is most prevalent with all (100%) respondents who sought services in these counties paying a bribe.
“The last five counties where one is not likely to pay a bribe for services include Taita Taveta (48%), Vihiga (47%), Mandera (46%), Embu (44%) and lastly Nyeri (40%),” notes the EACC report.
On the impact of bribe payment in counties, the survey revealed that bribe payment had the highest impact in Bungoma County. Each time a person paid a bribe in Bungoma, they were 1.14 times more likely to receive the service than if they did not pay the bribe.
Samburu, Kakamega, Kisumu and Nyandarua made the top five list.
However, one is likely to miss out on services even after paying a bribe in the counties of Nyeri, Mandera, Embu, Marsabit and Kericho counties respectively.
On average, respondents paid the largest amount of bribe in West Pokot (Ksh.56,695) followed by Nairobi (Ksh.37,768), Murang’a (Ksh.18,378), Kisii (Ksh.16,810), Uasin Gishu (Ksh.11,136), Kitui (Ksh.9,849), Busia (Ksh.7,468) and Tharaka-Nithi (Ksh.7,041) Counties.
Respondents paid the least amount of bribe in Marsabit (Ksh.902), Kericho (Ksh681), Kakamega (Ksh.538), Tana River (Ksh.505) and Kilifi (Ksh.162).
In the NECS 2023 Report, 60% of the respondents were dissatisfied with integrity, transparency and accountability in public service delivery in Kenya.
Corruption was ranked the fourth most pressing problem facing the country after high cost of living, unemployment and poverty.
Overall, 34.4% of respondents who sought government services were asked to pay a bribe with 28.3% of the respondents paying.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@nairobilawmonthly.com, and to advertise with us, call +254715061658 anytime of the day
