Embu, Kisii and Bomet top in list of shame, graft levels study shows

Embu County is leading in cases of bribery, a new report shows.

The number of times a bribe was paid in Embu County rose from 1.45 in 2012 to 2.53 last year, according to an Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission report released yesterday and which highlights the extent of graft in devolved units.

Kisii County is the second most corrupt with a mean of 2.43, followed by Bomet (2.24), Kwale (1.93), Garissa (1.70) and Kiambu (1.66) in that order.

With a mean of 1.50, Homa Bay, Wajir and Narok also rank high in the list of shame, and at position 10 with a mean of 1.44 is Murang'a.

The National Ethics and Corruption Survey Report 2015 shows that nationally, corruption has significantly increased in the last three years. New figures show a rise of 6.2 per cent, over a similar 2012 survey.

So dire is the scourge that patients have to bribe for medical attention in public hospitals.

The survey shows Kenyans have to pay an average of Sh275,000 in bribes to get a tender from Government institutions while job seekers have to part with at least Sh115,000 to be employed.

The survey, which sampled 5,260 households, was conducted in all the counties except Mandera.

With the exception of Narok, which was the third most corrupt county in 2012 with a mean of 2.37, the other counties were not among the top 10 in 2012.

In 2012, Embu had a mean of 1.45, Garissa (1.64), Bomet (1.80), Kwale 91.31 while Garissa had no recorded corruption incidents.

The same year, Kiambu recorded a mean of 1.05, Homa Bay 1.44 and Wajir none. Narok recorded a mean of 2.37 while Murang'a had 1.54. In the same year, Lamu and Tana River counties did not record any corruption cases.

In last year's survey, Nyamira, Baringo, Mombasa, Nairobi, Taita Taveta, Meru, Bungoma, Marsabit, Nakuru, Kajiado, Trans Nzioa, Makueni and Siaya follow each other as areas where a bribe was paid with a mean of 1.04 to 1.39.

There were no incidents of corruption reported in Tana River and Turkana counties.

The highest bribe of Sh80,000 was paid in Mandera, which was not sampled, followed by Garissa (Sh51,990), Baringo (Sh46,307), Lamu (Sh30,025) and Laikipia (Sh20,367).

Migori comes in sixth place with a bribe of Sh20,000 having been paid, followed by Nairobi (Sh7,436), Nandi (Sh7,000), Narok (Sh6,966) and Meru (Sh6,639).

Kisii County leads in delays in service delivery with 6.6 per cent, followed closely by Nyeri (6.3 per cent), Bomet (5.5 per cent), Homa Bay (5.4 per cent) and Kiambu (5.1 per cent).

Nairobi comes in at sixth position in service delivery delays at 4.8 per cent, followed by Meru (4.3 per cent), Murang'a (4.3 per cent), Narok (4.2 per cent) and Laikipia (3.6 per cent).

Nairobi County leads in the country in lateness and absenteeism at 9.6 per cent, followed by Kakamega (8.1 per cent), Kiambu (5.1 per cent), Narok (4.5 per cent) and Bungoma (4.2 per cent).