Kenya 9th most corrupt in Africa - poll

Kenya has been ranked ninth out of 28 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa perceived to be most corrupt in a new survey.

The survey by Transparency International and AfroBarometer ranked Kenya among countries where a majority of citizens (60 per and above) believe that graft has shot up in the last 12 months.

Bribes were paid mostly to police, courts and while accessing documents such as identification cards and permits.

The other countries include Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Ghana, Benin, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania and Madagascar.

Generally, out of the 43,143 people surveyed in 28 countries, the majority (58 per cent) said graft has increased sharply in the last 12 months.

Kenya was also among countries in which significant majority of citizens believe the Government is doing badly in combating graft.

In the survey, 70 per cent of the Kenyans polled said the Jubilee government is doing poorly in the war against graft.

PAY BRIBES

Madagascar, Liberia and Zimbabwe were ranked worst in this category while Lesotho, Botswana and Senegal were ranked the best.

Kenya also ranked high (six out of 28) in the number of people who paid bribes to access public services.

Liberia, Cameroon and Nigeria were leading this pack. Mauritius and Botswana had the least number of people who paid bribes.

The finding is similar to previous Transparency International surveys and highlights the lack of progress made in addressing bribery.

In the survey, the police were perceived to be the most corrupt followed by business executives and government officials while religious leaders were perceived to be least corrupt.

"In many countries, you can pay off police officers to ignore any crime, however horrific and devastating – it's just a matter of price," said the report.

According to the survey, people in Kenya and sub-saharan Africa don't report graft largely due to fear of the consequences and belief that it won't make any difference. Many still see graft as 'normal'.