Interior ministry the most corruption-prone ministry

The Interior ministry tops as the most corruption-prone ministry at 42.4 per cent, a survey by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) conducted in 2021 has revealed.

The report released on Friday, December 30, also lists the Health ministry at 19.7per cent, Lands (11.7pc), Education (8.3 pc) and Defense (7.6 pc).

"21.3 per cent of the respondents indicated that corruption and unethical practices are evident in all government ministries while 5.6 per cent said that corruption and unethical practices are evident in none of the ministries," read an excerpt of the report by EACC.

In terms of government departments and agencies, the Kenya Police ranked first at 82.1pc among places where Kenyans are most likely to encounter corruption and unethical practices.

The Kenya Police was followed by the Registration of Persons at 25.2pc, Immigration Department (17.3pc), Directorate of Land (8.5pc), Department of Devolution (7.9pc), National Land Commission (6.8pc), Department of Education (6.7pc) and Kenya Defense Forces (6.4pc).

At the same time, the report by EACC indicates that the national average bribe increased from Sh3,833.14 in 2018 to Sh5,889.89 in 2021.

The respondents of the Survey were members of the general public aged 18 years and above at the household level were also asked to give their opinion on the fight against corruption.

The survey utilised various data collection methods including: - a representative nationwide household survey of 600 clusters with a total of 5,847 household respondents drawn from all 47 counties.

Narok County registered the highest bribery demands at 31.7pc from respondents who sought services in the county government.

Elgeyo Marakwet came in second at 31.3pc followed by Nakuru at (29.3pc) and Kisii County at (28.5pc).

Bribe payments were highest in Mandera County at (34.4pc) of the respondents followed by Narok (30.1pc) Nakuru (26.7pc) and Elgeyo Marakwet (25.8pc).

The report also noted that over half of the respondents do nothing at an individual level to help in the fight against corruption and unethical practices.