“Unemployment presents big challenge in the fight against corruption”, EACC summary report 2022

EACC RELEASES REPORT ON NATIONAL ETHICS AND CORRUPTION SURVEY 2021

SUMMARY OF FINDINDS

 INTRODUCTION

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has today, Friday, 30^th December, 2022 released its latest National Ethics and Corruption Survey Report covering the year 2021.  The overall aim of the National Ethics and Corruption Survey 2021 was to establish the status of corruption and ethics in the country, as well as experiences and perceptions of citizens on various aspects in the efforts to tame the vice.

The specific objectives of the survey were to:

1. Establish the status of corruption and unethical practices in Kenya;
2. Assess the nature, likelihood, prevalence and impact of corruption and unethical practices in public service delivery based on individual experiences;

• Find out service areas most prone to corruption and unethical conduct in public service delivery;

1. Find out level of corruption reporting among the general public;
2. Find out effectiveness and support for existing anti-corruption initiatives by public institutions;
3. Establish level of access to ethics and anti-corruption services; and

• Find out sources of information on corruption and unethical behavior by the citizenry.

The respondents of the Survey were members of the general public aged 18 years and above at the household level. They provided feedback on their interaction with public officers while seeking services in public offices. The Survey utilized various data collection methods including: – a representative nation-wide household survey of 600 clusters with a total of 5,847 household respondents drawn from all the 47 counties; and review of earlier Surveys, other national and global perception surveys and other relevant literature and research materials on corruption and ethics.

2. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SURVEY FINDINGS
3. Perceptions on Corruption and Unethical Conduct

• Unemployment (56.2%) ranked first as the biggest problem facing the country today followed by poverty (48%) and corruption (43.7%);
• The level of corruption was thought to be high by 73.5 percent of the respondents;
• Close to three quarters (74.1%) of respondents think corruption and unethical practices are widespread in Kenya;
• There was a sharp rise in respondents who think the level of corruption is increasing from 40.8 percent in 2018 to 71 percent;
• In the ranking of Ministries, one is most likely to encounter corruption and unethical practices in the Ministry of Interior and coordination of National Government (42.4%) followed by the Ministry of Health (19.7%);
• The Kenya Police (82.1%) ranked first among government Departments and Agencies where one is most likely to encounter corruption and unethical practices followed by the Department of Registration of Persons (25.2%) and Department of Immigration (17.3%); and
• County health services such as ambulance, health facilities and cemeteries (18.7%) and inspectorate -askaris (8.7%) are most prone to corruption and unethical practices among the County Government Departments.
• Urban dwellers pay higher bribes (Kes. 7,615.08) than rural residents (Kes. 5,852.49), females pay higher bribes (Kes. 8,818.84) than males (Kes. 5,410.94), while most younger people in the age group 18 to 24 years pay higher bribes than older ones. (Table 4 in the Report: Average bribe by Socio-Economic Characteristics)

1. Magnitude of Corruption in the Public Service

• There was a significant drop of respondents who sought government services from 75.3 percent in 2018 to 55.9 percent in 2021;
• Those who encountered corrupt and unethical conduct in government offices from which they sought services declined from 41.8 percent in 2018 to 23.2 percent;
• Overall, 20.9 percent of the respondents who sought government services were asked to pay a bribe;
• Bribery (50.3%) was the most prominent form of corruption witnessed in public offices by respondents. This was followed by favoritism (22.9%), delays in service provision (21.6%), abuse of office (13.3%) and poor service provision (13.2%) among others;
• Bribe payments declined to 16.5 percent for those who were asked to pay in order to receive a government service compared to 73.1 percent in 2018;
• Delay in service provision prompted 44.5 percent of the respondents to pay bribes to hasten up a service while 41.4 percent paid because it was the only way they could access a service;
• Seeking medical services (27.8%) was the service most prone to corruption followed by registration/collection/renewal of National Identification Card (14.8%) and application/collection of Birth Certificate (14%);
• The Ministry of Health was ranked first among institutions most prone to corruption by 18.8 percent of the respondents surveyed followed by the Chiefs/Village elders (14.3%), Registrar of Persons (12.9%) and Department of Civil Registration (10.3%);
• The average number of times a bribe was demanded per person increased to 1.67 times from 1.33 times in the 2018 Survey with a minimum of once and a maximum of 10 times;
• The average number of times a bribe was paid per person increased to 1.48 times from 1.24 times with a minimum of 1 and maximum of 9 times; and
• The national average bribe increased considerably from KES. 3,833.14 in 2018 to stand at KES. 5,889.89 in 2021.
• Concern about potential harassment and reprisal/fear of victimization (60.2%), long distance to the reporting place/authority (57.1%), the reporting process being too complex and long (56%) affect a lot the decision not to report corruption or unethical practices;
• Close to a fifth (18.6%) of the respondents indicated that given an opportunity, they would engage in a corrupt or unethical practice while 13.9 percent have actually participated in an act of corruption or unethical conduct in the past one year.

1. Corruption in County Governments

• Respondents who sought services in Narok County registered the highest bribery demands recorded at 31.7 percent followed by those in Elgeyo Marakwet County (31.3%), Nakuru County (29.3%) and Kisii County (28.5%). Figure 4 in the Report presents the top ten Counties where one is most likely to encounter bribery demands.
• Bribe payments were highest in Mandera County at 34.4 percent of the respondents followed by Narok (30.1%), Nakuru (26.7%) and Elgeyo Marakwet (25.8%) (Figure 6 in the Report). On the other hand, instances of bribe payment were lowest in Marsabit (1.1%) followed by Tharaka Nithi (4.8%), Embu (6.6%) and Nyeri (7.3%).
• The average number of times that a bribe was demanded was highest in Tana River County at 3.8 times followed by Kisii County (3.1), Narok County (2.9) and Garissa (2.7) (Figure 12 in the Report). On the other hand, Samburu, Lamu, Laikipia, Kakamega, Isiolo, Embu and Kitui Counties recorded the lowest average number of times a bribe was paid at 1. (Figure 15 in the Report).
• Service seekers in Narok County paid the highest average bribe at KES. 42,652.96 followed by those in Mombasa (KES. 23,387.50), Mandera (KES. 13,168.13) and Nyandarua (KES. 11,109.09) Counties each. (Figure 17 in the Report). On the other hand, service seekers in Nyamira County paid the least average bribe of KES. 453.64 followed by those in Meru (KES. 814.66), Isiolo (KES. 850.00) and Vihiga (KES. 978.15) Counties each. (Figure 18 in the Report).

1. Provision of National Government Services

• Comparatively, the proportion of the respondents who indicated that the provision of services by the national government improved in 2021 declined to 44 percent compared to 59.4 percent and 55.7 percent in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
• The awareness levels about Huduma Centres in the country grew to an all-time high of 98.1 percent from 97.1 percent and 94.1 percent in the 2018 and 2017 respectively.
• The uptake of the Huduma Centre services however dropped slightly to 32.6 percent from 36.4 percent and 35.3 percent in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
• Over 48 percent of the respondents described Huduma Centre services as efficient followed by 14.9 percent who said that environment was friendly and 13.9 percent who indicated that services were quick. On the other hand, 8.2 percent cited delay in services while 2.7 percent encountered corrupt officers at Huduma Centres.

1. Public Support for Anti-Corruption Initiatives

• Over half of the respondents (51.3%) do nothing at individual level to help in the fight against corruption and unethical practices, which is an improvement from 67 percent and 61.7 percent in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
• Over 18 percent refused to give or take bribes compared to 14.5 percent and 17.2 percent in 2018 and 2017 respectively. (Figure 28 in the Report).

1. Role of the media in the fight against corruption and unethical conduct in Kenya

• Fewer respondents (61.7%) rated the media as doing enough in the fight against corruption and unethical conduct in Kenya compared to 77.8 percent in 2018;
• Radio remained in the lead with a preference of 86.7% followed by Television with 72.5 percent, social media with 24 percent and newspapers with 14.8 percent as sources of information on corruption and unethical conduct in the past 12 months;
• Regional and vernacular radio stations are the most listened to by 35.6 percent of the respondents followed by Radio Citizen (18.0%), Radio Jambo (9.8%) and Radio Maisha (7.5%);
• The Daily Nation Newspaper recorded the highest preference rate of 61.3 percent followed by the Standard Newspaper (25.9%) and Taifa Leo (4.1%);
• Citizen Television is the most widely watched TV station with 55.4 percent of the respondents followed by KTN (6.3%) and NTV (5.0%); and
• Whatsapp was the most preferred social media platform as mentioned by 45.6% of the respondents followed by Facebook (31.1%), Twitter (3.6%) and Youtube (1.5%).

***********************************END*************************************

For more information and/or clarifications, the Commission may be contacted through:

Mr. Eric Ngumbi, OGW

Head of Corporate Affairs & Communication

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)

Integrity Centre Building, Valley/ Jakaya Kikwete Roads Junction

NAIROBI

Tel. No. 0721505299 and Email address: engumbi@integrity.go.ke.