Students from Moi Girls School Nairobi perform a verse during the launch of National Ethics and Corruption Survery at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre yesterday. [George Njunge, Standard]

Turkana has been named as the county where residents pay the most bribes to get access to services, according to a survey.

Residents of the oil-rich county pay bribes an average of 5.53 times, according to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

Mandera (3.39), Murang’a (2.79) and Uasin Gishu (2.19) were in list of the top 10 counties’ while Kirinyaga, Nandi and Nyeri recorded the lowest averages at 0.88, 0.96 and 1.00 respectively, according to the National Ethics and Corruption Survey 2017.

Speaking at the launch of the report yesterday, EACC Chairman Eliud Wabukala said the commission had proposed an annual audit of all public officers to ascertain their net worth.

In the survey conducted in 5,557 households in the 47 counties from September 18 to October 24 last year, 76 per cent of respondents said they did not receive services after refusing to pay a bribe.

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“The average times a bribe is demanded reduced to 1.57 times nationally from 1.66 in the 2016 survey. The frequency of demanding bribes by service providers depicts a public service that considers providing public services not its responsibility but as a favour to the service seekers,” the report said.

Services that were most prone to bribery included application and collection of birth certificates cited by 17.3 per cent of the respondents, followed by registration, collection or renewal of national identification cards (14.6pc), seeking medical attention (11.9pc) and seeking employment (5.6pc).

Wajir County recorded the highest proportion of service seekers who paid bribes to obtain Government services at 90 per cent followed by Meru (88.5pc), Trans Nzoia (83.3pc) and Kajiado (81.5pc).

The Chief’s Office, encompassing the village elders, is the public office where most bribes were paid, with 17.2 per cent of respondents holding this opinion.

This was followed by the regular police/police stations (16.4pc), Ministry of Health/county health departments (13pc), Registrar of Persons offices (10.5pc), Ministry of Lands (6.1pc) and Huduma Centre (5.1pc).

Bomet, Kitui, Lamu and Kisumu were ranked among the bottom 10 counties by proportion of those who paid bribes to receive services.

Quicker services

Half of the respondents said they paid bribes because it was the only way to get services, 17 per cent paid to get quicker services, 13 per cent paid to avoid problems with authorities while 10 per cent paid because it was the norm.

Marsabit, Tharaka Nithi, Embu and Kitui had the most residents who bribed because it was the only way they could get a service.

Those who paid to hasten services were largely in Garissa, Isiolo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kajiado, and Siaya.

In Narok, Busia, Laikipia, Kisumu and Kericho, respondents indicated that they paid because it was expected.

With Kenyans having paid an average of Sh5,058 in bribes for the past three years, assessments by county revealed that Mandera recorded the highest average bribe of Sh35,440 followed by Kisumu (Sh26,762) and Busia (Sh18,866).

In terms of services, obtaining a tender attracted the largest bribe of Sh102,921, seeking employment (Sh28,606), collection of a building or construction certificate (Sh17,661) and seeking a transfer (Sh15,240).

The Interior ministry topped the list of ministries/arms of Government perceived to be corrupt at 64.7 per cent, up 18.8 per cent from 2016.

The ministries of Health, Lands and Education followed at 27.8, 23.9 and 11.7 per cent respectively.

Among the least corrupt ministries were Tourism at 0.2 per cent, Mining (0.3) and ICT (0.4).

The survey also ranked Government departments and agencies perceived to be most prone to corruption.

The Kenya Police topped the list at 23.8 per cent followed by the National Police Service Commission (13.7pc), public hospitals (9.8pc) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (4.9pc).

They were followed by the National Land Commission at 7.3 per cent, the National Transport and Safety Authority (4.9pc) and the Immigration Department (4.3pc).

Political instability

Corruption was identified by 43.6 per cent of respondents as the leading problem facing the country, followed by poverty (37pc), unemployment (32.2pc), unfavourable economic conditions (22pc) and political instability (21.8pc).

Bribery was identified as the most prevalent form of corruption, according to 66.2 per cent of respondents. Other forms of corruption included abuse of office (6.4pc), favouritism (5.2pc) and delay in service provision (4.9pc).

Respondents in urban areas paid an average bribe of Sh4,779 while their rural counterparts paid Sh5,199. Women paid more in bribes, at an average of Sh5,579 while men paid Sh4,718.

“Overall 45.6 per cent of respondents who paid bribes were satisfied with services provided, 21.8 per cent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, while 35.8 per cent were dissatisfied,” read the report.