Aasai

Uasin Gishu, Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties are among the highest corruption counties in the country, while those seeking services in those counties are forced to bribe. Other counties in the ten-quality of corruption include Marsabit, Embu, Homa Bay, Bomet, Kakamega, Tana River, Kiambu, Meru, Nyamira and Wajir. Also, Kilifi, Mandera, Tharaka Nithi, Kitui, Muranga, Samburu and Vihiga have been cited as having high levels of corruption. 

This is according to a new report released by the Ethics and Anti -Corruption Commission (EACC) yesterday, about the countrys bribery situation. According to national research on ethics and corruption status (NECS) 2024, Elgeyo Marakwet, Marsabit and Wajir counties are leading the cases of residents being required to bribe in search of services.

The EACC says that every time residents need services in these counties, it is more likely that a person is asked to bribe. "Elgeyo Marakwet, Marsabit and Wajir are counties whose bribe was linked to the highest level, of which 100 percent of the applicants were forced to bribe," says part of the EACC report. 

The report also states that bribery was the most successful in Kakamega, Baringo and Meru counties. Each time a person offered a bribe in those counties, he put himself in a better position to receive service at 1.37 percent compared to those who did not bribe. On average, the most affected counties and bribery are Uasin Gishu, Baringo, Embu, Homa Bay, Bomet, Kakamega, Tana River, Kiambu, Nyamira and Wajir. “On average, a larger amount of bribe was reported in Uasin Gishu County (Sh25,873), followed by Baringo (Sh16,156), Embu (Sh12,878), Homa Bay (Sh12,381), Bomet (Sh11,650), Kakamega (Sh10,013, Tana River (Sh9,582), Kiambu (Sh7,982), Nyamira (Sh7,748) na Wajir (Sh7,275),” inaongeza ripoti hiyo.

The highest national bribe was paid Uasin Gishu (11.12 percent), followed by Baringo (6.94 percent), Embu (5.54 percent), Homa Bay (5.32 percent) and Bomet (01 percent). This implies that services in those counties are more likely to be asked for bribes to be served. 

For example, every time a person is seeking services in Kwale, Kilifi and Wajir counties, he is likely to be asked for a bribe at 1.09, 1.03 and 1.02, respectively. Other counties that are likely to be asked for a bribe at 1.00 percent are Mandera, Marsabit, Tharaka Nithi, Kitui, Muranga, Samburu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Vihiga, Homa Bay and Nyamira. Many public services where bribery is the most common include land and county housing, inspection and management, payments from the county government, the construction of water and sanitation infrastructure, health care, county licenses, among others.

Public Service Boards in the county are also among the institutions full of bribery cases. On average, those involved in the study said they donated large amounts of bribery when they sought jobs from county governments, where they donated Sh243,651 on average. The EACC report showed that every time a person offered a bribe to those institutions, he was twice as likely to receive services compared to those who did not bribe. 

On the other hand, the counties where one was less likely to be asked for bribes were Nakuru, Makueni, Kajiado, Narok, Siaya, Kisumu, Trans Nzoia, Nyeri, Bungoma, Lamu, Nyandarua and others. A large percentage of participants (43) bribed because they were told "necessary", followed by 23.3 percent claiming that it was the only way to get services, and 18 percent offered bribes to avoid delaying service.