Kenyans paid more bribes in 2023 than other years- Survey

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

Kenyans paid more bribes in 2023 than previous years, a survey conducted by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has revealed.

The national average bribe increased from Sh6,865 in 2022 to Sh11,625 in 2023.

The report, dubbed National Ethics and Corruption Survey also shows that at least 35.8 per cent of Kenyans pay a bribe in order to acquire passport services.

This is compared to 22.1 per cent seeking employment opportunities, 11.5 per cent who pay bribes to get a Police abstract and 10.3 per cent who pay to bail arrested individuals.
Counties with highest forms of corruption

According to the survey, you will likely be asked to pay a bribe to access services in Busia County, compared to other counties.
Baringo, Nairobi, Nakuru, and Machakos counties also topped the list as the most bribery-prone counties.

Kenyans also reported that Traffic police, County Health Department and Regular Police are the three most bribery-prone public institutions in the country.

You are also more likely to pay for a bribe while seeking business registration, a TSC number, relief food, obtaining a tender and vehicle transfer services.

A majority of the respondents (89.4 per cent) were aware of what constituted corruption in public service. Giving of bribes (41.0 per cent) was the most common form of corruption witnessed in public offices, followed by receiving of bribes (21.2 per cent), abuse of office (20.0 per cent), favouritism (13.6 per cent), tribalism and nepotism (7.5 per cent) and extortion (6.9 per cent), among others.

The likelihood indicator reveals the most bribery-prone public services. A service seeker is likely to be asked for a bribe at least 1.41 times while seeking for police security services.

This was followed by seeking to bail an arrested person and reporting a crime or writing a statement where one is likely to be asked to pay a bribe 1.28 times and 1.10 times, respectively.

Each time a service is sought in Busia County, one is likely to be asked for a bribe two times.

At the same time, each time a service is sought in Baringo, Nairobi, Nakuru and Machakos counties one is likely to be asked for a bribe 1.34 times, 1.12 times, 1.11 times and 1.09 times, respectively.

The survey also reveals that bribe payment had the highest impact in Bungoma County. Each time a person paid a bribe in this county, they were 1.14 times more likely to receive the service than if they did not pay the bribe.

On average, respondents paid the largest amount of bribe in the National Transport and Safety Authority, about Sh81,801.

Other public institutions where Kenyans had to pay large bribe amounts to access services were: the Judiciary (Sh49,611), the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) (Sh40,000) and the County Government offices (Sh26,223).

The largest share of national bribe was paid in Nairobi County (54.45 per cent) followed by West Pokot County (13.87 per cent) and Uasin Gishu County (3.7 per cent).