The government has engaged the
International Monetary Fund to conduct a
comprehensive governance and corruption diagnosis across all ministries and
public institutions.
Prime Cabinet Secretary
Musalia Mudavadi says the initiative is part of President
William Ruto’s resolve to eradicate corruption and protect the economy and the livelihoods
of Kenyans.
The Prime CS made the revelations at the
opening of the 2024 Kenya Revenue Authority Summit at Safari Park Hotel,
Nairobi.
In his address, the CS emphasised the government's commitment to intensifying efforts
in the fight against corruption and urged all government officers to fully
engage in the exercise.
“This diagnostic
effort will ensure accountability and transparency, fostering a government that
works for all Kenyans. Those who do not participate will face close
scrutiny,” Mudavadi warned.
Kenya
scored 31 points out of 100 on the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index reported
by Transparency International.
The Corruption
Index in Kenya averaged 24.23 points from 1996 until 2023, reaching an all-time
high of 32.00 points in 2022 and a record low of 19.00 points in 2002, TI data
shows.
A
2023 survey by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) evidenced from
households in Kenya indicated that the majority of respondents (57.3 per cent) perceived corruption
level to be high in the country.
The main
reason given by 24.7 per cent of the respondents was high cost of living with
the most prevalent forms of unethical practices cited being bribery (44 per
cent), delay in service provision (16.2 per cent) and abuse of office (6.6 per
cent).
The survey
found that one was most likely to encounter corruption and unethical practices
in the Interior Ministry (47.1 per cent); Ministry of Health (13.2 per cent) and
Ministry of Transport (5.8 per cent).
Government
departments and agencies perceived to be most prone to corruption were: Police
(60.6 per cent), Immigration Department (4.4 per cent) and Registrar of Persons
(4.0 per cent).
“Most of the
respondents (44.7 per cent) opined that the prevalence of corruption was
increasing,” EACC said.
The commission,
however, said the survey established that 37.9 per cent of the respondents were
optimistic that the level of corruption would decrease in the next year
compared to 29 per cent who thought it would increase.