By GEOFFREY MOSOKU
BARINGO, KENYA: Baringo North MP William Cheptumo has criticized a report by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) which places Baringo County as one of the most corrupt regions.
Cheptumo said it was self-contradictory for the commission to indicate in one segment that, the county marked the least cases of bribery demands, yet tops in the average amount of bribes paid.
“From that report, it’s clear that people of Baringo are not engaged in massive bribery yet it baffles me that overall, the county leads in the amount of bribes dished,” he said.
Speaking in Nairobi, Cheptumo dismissed the report saying it had adverse effects on developments as it will scare away investors.
“Now investors will be unwilling to venture into our county when the commission ranks it as the highest in giving out bribes, this is totally unfair to us,” he added.
The legislator was speaking in Nairobi, to react to Tuesday’s release of EACC National Survey, 2012 that ranked Baringo as the least prone to bribery but ironically rated it number one in terms of paying the highest amount in bribery.
In Baringo, the average one can pay as a bribe was 20,075 shillings followed by Kirinyaga at 15,914 thousand shillings and Nakuru at 8, 466 shillings.
“The lowest average bribe is 300 shillings in West Pokot followed by 500 in Marsabit and 571 shillings in Samburu.”
Cheptumo has warned that the anti-graft body should be cautious when releasing such reports, so as not to erode way investor confidence, as the country rolls down devolutions.
