Kenya most corrupt - watchdog

2009-07-02 22:07

Nairobi - Kenya is the most corrupt country in East Africa, an international watchdog said on Thursday after surveying residents in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

According to the survey by Berlin-based Transparency International, 45% of Kenyans pay bribes to access services such as public health care, water connections and security. The country was followed by Uganda with 34% and Tanzania with 18%. 

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 the judiciary.

The chairperson of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International, Richard Leakey, said: “The public see officials, and these officials 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”.

Kenya police spokesperson Eric Kiraithe denied reports of corruption and said such reports would lower the force's morale.

The Kenya chapter's executive director, Job Ogonda, blamed graft for the violence seen after Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential elections, during which more than 1 500 people died in protests.

The month long survey questioned more than 10 500 people in the three countries.

- AP