NAIROBI Kenya Jan 25 -Kenya has largely stagnated in the fight against corruption, Transparency International Kenya says in its latest report.
According to the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Kenya socred 30 out of 100, a slight drop from 31 in 2020.
“Kenya’s score still falls below the Sub-Saharan average of 33 (a rise of one point from 32 in 2020) and global average of 43 – a score below 50 indicates serious levels of public sector corruption,” Transparency International Kenya said Tuesday.
The organization noted that the change is not statistically significant “even when a trend analysis of 10 years is performed”
Transparency International stated that Kenya’s performance indicates a general lack of progress in anti-corruption efforts despite the pledge by the government to address it.
“Kenya’s Stagnating Performance Across the Years In comparison to CPI 2020, Kenya only had a change of one score. The 5-year trend analysis from 2017 to 2021 shows that Kenya’s score was 28, 27,28, 31 and 30 respectively,” it added.
In the report, the CPI 2021 ranked Rwanda the highest in the East African region with 53 points compared to 54 points in 2020, Tanzania with 39 from 38 points in 2020, while Uganda and Burundi stagnated at 27, and 19 points respectively.
South Sudan was ranked last both regionally and globally scoring 11 points from 12 points in 2020.
Transparency International further stated that Kenya’s score fluctuated between 25 and 28 between 2012 and 2019.
It attributed the rising case of corruption to the failure by the government to fully implement the interventions in place including the Elections Campaign Financing laws and the leadership and Integrity laws.
“While there have been attempts to amplify corruption and Integrity, Access to Information, and among others are yet to be fully implemented investigations and prosecutions, Kenyans are still frustrated by the slow turn of the wheels of justice as corruption cases have dragged in the courts, and Kenyans now face the stark reality that the 2022 election will provide a political lifeline for some corruption suspects already charged in court, as their cases are yet to be concluded,” Transparency International Kenya said.
It added that graft in public service has denied Kenyans access to critical services such as health, education amongst others.
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