Kenya ranked 126 in latest corruption index by Transparency International

Kenya has been ranked position 126 out of 180 countries globally in the latest Corruption Perception Index.

The ranking is by Transparency International.

Kenya dropped three positions from 123 in 2022.

The country scored 31 points out of the possible 100, a decline from a score of 32 points in 2022.

Denmark has topped the list with 90 points with Somalia being ranked at the bottom of the list with only 11 points.

The report has attributed the drop in Kenya’s ranking to very few graft cases that have been successfully prosecuted in the recent past.

The report said the high number of cases either dragged excessively, withdrawn by the prosecution or resulted in acquittals with no publicly known efforts to review the withdrawn cases or appeal the cases lost have also cost the country in global ranking.

“One glaring example is the Sh63 billion Arror-Kimwaror dam graft case, which is one among the several cases that are seemingly part of a broader pattern of controversies that have plagued the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the recent past,” the report says.

“Such controversial collapse of cases has eroded public confidence in the ODPP's office ability to uphold the rule of law.” 

The report further cites attempts to water down some of the anti-corruption laws.

These include proposals fronted last year by some legislators to repeal certain provisions of the anti-corruption legislation including the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (ACECA), 2003.

The Act is a legislation that governs the investigation, prosecution and punishment of corruption and economic crimes.

Transparency International warns that should the amendments if implemented, could have undermined transparency, accountability and the rule of law, and eroded public trust ultimately encouraging corruption and reinforcing networks of impunity.

“Besides, the continued appointment of individuals with tainted integrity and persons accused of corruption to the helm of public service administration at both national and county levels continue to undermine the fight against corruption,” the report says.

A country’s score is the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.

CPI measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived by experts and business people.

The corruption watchdog which is leading the fight against corruption has said that most countries have made little or no progress in tackling the vice in more than a decade.

This, TI said, is amidst weakening justice systems across the world that continue to leave corruption unchecked.