Police service highest receiver of bribes, shows report

Kenya; The National Police Service (NPS) has been ranked the most affected by bribery, according to The East African Bribery Index 2014 report.

The report ranked the Lands department second while the Judiciary emerged third. Tax services was fourth.

With devolution, city and local councils were replaced by county administration, which maintained fifth place. Utility departments (water and electricity) were ranked last on the list.

According to the report, people offered to pay a bribe when interacting with a particular sector in order to access the service, hasten delivery or avoid problems with the authorities.

The report said they also bribed to access a service they did not legally deserve or to avoid paying its full cost.

"Land services took the lead in chances of encountering bribery when replacing registry and licensing services," indicated the report.

On the probability of actual payment of a bribe when interacting with a sector, the police service was ranked first at 71.1 per cent. The tax service department was second at 31.4 per cent followed by the county administration at 25.9 per cent.

On the national share of the "national bribe", the police service received the biggest share and almost accounted for almost half of all the bribes paid at 43.5 per cent. The land service department was second at 11.9 per cent followed by the Judiciary at 11.6 per cent.

"Majority of those who interacted with NPS felt if they had not given bribe, they would not have received the services. Twenty-seven per cent of those interacting with Lands services and 26.2 per cent with the Judiciary held the same view," the report said.

It also emerged that 94 per cent of Kenyans do not report any bribery incident to any authority since majority say they do not know where to report. Others believed no action would be taken towards resolving their complaint.

The report described the current state of corruption in the country as high, with 54 per cent of the people saying corruption had increased within the last 12 months.

During the launch of the report, Transparency International Executive Director Samuel Kimeu said more awareness should be ensured on the public's role in the fight against corruption.