Nairobi, July 02: Kenya is the most corrupt country in
East Africa, an international watchdog said today after
surveying residents in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
According to the survey by Berlin-based Tranparency
International, 45 per cent of Kenyans pay bribes to access
services such as public health care, water connections and
security. The country was followed by Uganda with 34 percent
and Tanzania with 17.8 percent.
Kenyan police, notorious for dubious traffic stops and
shaking down motorists for bribes, were ranked the most
corrupt in the country, followed by the Ministry of Defence
and Judiciary.
"The public see officials, and these official see
themselves, as existing not to provide a service to the
public, but as a body that is not accountable to the public
they profess to serve," said Richard Leakey, chairman of the
Kenyan chapter of Transparency International.
Kenya police spokesman Eric Kiraithe denied reports of
corruption and said such reports would lower the force's
morale.
Job Ogonda, the Kenya chapter's executive director,
blamed graft the kind of violence seen in after Kenya's
disputed 2007 presidential election, where more than 1,500
people died in protests.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, July 03, 2009, 00:29