The Kenya Bribery Index at a glance

Transparency International - Kenya recently launched their annual Kenya Bribery Index. Much as it has been in the news due to a misrepresentation by our low calibre journalists , this index focuses on exactly where Kenyans are being hurt by bribery. Furthermore, this is where we should be focusing on and not on the sideshows that the politicans would want us to focus on. It would be inetersting to hear what guys have gone through in these organisations. This is a brief summary of the Bribery Index. The full report can be found at the Transparency International website . Find the link to the right of my page.

THE KENYA BRIBERY INDEX 2005 AT A GLANCE:

The Kenya Bribery Index 2005 survey features 34 organizations, 4 less than in 2004. This reflects reduced number of organizations that had sufficient sample to be included individually. The survey indicates a decline in bribery in 2004 but by significantly less than the reduction reported in 2003. The number of bribery encounters reported declined from 40 % to 34 % of encounters, both public and private. The number of bribes paid declined from an average of 2.7 to 0.5 (i.e. one bribe for every two people who interacted with officials).

The Bribery Index measures Kenyan’s experiences with petty bribery and does not capture grand corruption, the mega scandals involving billions in kick backs and negative macro-economic impact such as Goldenberg or the Anglo-Leasing scandal “that never was”.

On the bribes reported in the survey, the average expenditure on bribery declined to Ksh.2,660 from Ksh. 4,000 in 2003, while the average bribe paid increased significantly, from Ksh.1, 484 to Ksh. 4,958. Kenyans are paying fewer bribes than before in addition to a significant reduction in frequency across all organizations. Conversely, the amount of money changing hands has reportedly increased. With time, public focus on corruption, bribery and service delivery has remained sustained, especially with the government’s pledge of zero-tolerance to corruption and its recovery programme that gives priority to good governance and the rule of law as the foundation of our economic growth. This has made public servants more reluctant to openly seek for bribes hence the increase in the average size of the bribes due to the high risk of being caught.

The Kenya Bribery Index 2005 survey features 34 organizations, 4 less than in 2004. This reflects reduced number of organizations that had sufficient sample to be included individually. The top ten worst offenders are as follows:

The Worst Offenders

The Kenya Police tops the list once again, and has topped the list since the inception the survey. This time it has recorded its worst index score of 72.4, down from 57.3 in 2004. Furthermore, the Police force ranked worst in five of the six indicators, save for average size of bribes, where it is ranked second. In the previous surveys, it had recorded relatively low amounts for the average size of bribes, an average of about Kshs.540 annually. This time its average size of bribes has increased drastically to Kshs 10,800. Kenyans are now paying an average of Kshs.2, 377 per annum to the police,an increase from Kshs.805. Incidentally, the bribery transactions reported have reduced form 12.5 to 2.5.

As explained earlier, there is an environment of law enforcement and order and numerous reform initiatives especially in the Traffic Division that makes it harder for one to get away with an offense. Subsequently, due to the increased risk of severe punishment coupled with an increase in the amounts of the fines and the penalties, the bribe price has increased. Despite the police being better equipped both in the towns and rural areas due to partnerships with donors to fund reforms, there is reportedly no corresponding improvement in service delivery.

The Judiciary, which works closely with the Police, has a similar trend whereby there is a reduction in bribery encounters (4.7 to 0.4) and an increase in the size of bribes. (Kshs.1, 836 to Kshs.3, 606). The much touted radical surgery that took place in 2003 may come under increased scrutiny, especially since it was surgery that was carried out at the top.

Other organizations that performed poorly include the Teachers Service Commission, whose index increased from 18.7 to 30.6 and whose ranking rose from 19^th to 2^nd. The Commission also ranked worst in average size of bribes, with an average of Kshs.13, 115 reportedly being paid. The Bribery Index has been able to track a trend in national recruitment exercises by various organizations, where their episodic appearance and high ranking in the index takes place after a recruitment process. This was evident with the Department of Defense in last years’ index when it was ranked second following a national recruitment. It does not feature in this years’ recruitment. Teacher recruitment, promotion and appraisals have been dogged by reports of massive bribery.

Interestingly, the Education sector features prominently, with five education service providers appearing on the Bribery Index this year. These are the Teachers Service Commission, the Ministry of Education, Public Universities, Public Colleges and Public Schools. The first four are amongst the top 15 in the average size of bribe category.

The Local Authorities index has increased from 17.3 to 25.2. A major contribution to this is the inclusion of the Kisumu and Mombasa City Councils’ in the Local Authorities category since they were not cited by a significant number of respondents so as to reach the sample significance criteria that would warrant them to be ranked separately.

Organizations that have improved.

The Nairobi City Council was ranked 7^th with an index of 20.4, a slight improvement from an index of 26.2 from last years’ index. The Nairobi City Council has recorded significant improvements across the indicators. Worth noting is the decrease in the cost of bribes per person from Kshs. 89.9 to Kshs. 2.71 and the frequency of bribes ,from 5.8 to 0.3. The average size of bribes though has increased by about 50%, from Kshs. 863 to Kshs.1, 266. It would be interesting to track the impact of the decentralization of certain services from the Nairobi City Council, including the newly created Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, the new partnership with the Kenya Revenue Authority where the latter has been contracted to collect land rates on behalf of the Council and the impending awarding of the garbage collection contract.

Other organizations that have shown marked improvements include: The State Corporations n.e.s, The Immigration Department, The Kenya Revenue Authority and the Central Government n.e.s.

Behaviour Change in the Public

There is a sharp increase in the frequency of members of the public declining to bribe and there is also an increase in the willingness to report bribery encounters indicating that it is behaviour change by the public, as opposed to behaviour change by public officials that is driving reduction in bribery. This should send out a message to the public and private organizations involved in sensitizing the public on corruption. Programmes targeting public officials should be designed and implemented.

Perceptions of Change.

The perceptions of significant reduction in corruption declined to 9% from 14% in 2003, while perceptions of slight reduction also declined from 18% to 15%. Conversely, perceptions of significant increase rose from 8.5% to 12% and perceptions of marginal increase rose slightly from 4.4 to 5.5%. The majority (57.5%) perceived no change.

The Bribery Indicators: Where do organizations rank?

A sneak preview into the six indicators constructed to capture the different dimensions of corruption is given below. The top ten organizations for each indicator are provided.

Indicator 1: Likelihood of Encountering Bribery, % of encounters.

The Immigration Department registered significant improvement on this score. It was ranked worst with a score of 90% and this has educed to 60%.The likelihood of encountering bribery increased very significantly in Public Universities, the Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya Power and Lighting Company and the Ministry of Health.

Indicator 2: Prevalence (Bribery Encounters as % of respondents affected)

The Judiciary, the Registrar of Persons and the Nairobi City Council registered significant improvements and dropped from the top ten offenders list. The Immigration Department registered the most notable improvement, moving down from 14^th to 27^th position. The Ministry of Agriculture and Public Universities have registered the most significant regression, the former from the second most favourable position to 18^th position, and the latter from most favourable position to 25^th position.

Indicator 3: Severity (% of declinations resulting in service denial).

Amongst the ten worst offenders last year, only three organizations have registered some improvement, namely the Registrar of Persons, The Kenya Revenue Authority and the Immigration Department in that order. The Teachers Service Commission registered the worst performance, from the second best to the 8^th worst offender. Other poor performers in this category include: Local Authorities (19^th to 5th),

Indicator 4: Cost of Bribes in Kshs.

Public organizations have an overall downward trend in the total expenditure on bribery, save for the Police, who are now extracting three times more than last year. (From Kshs.805 to Kshs.2.377). Notably, however, the increase has occurred in rural areas, from Kshs.49 to Kshs.3, 700 per person per month. The downward trend in the public sector is offset by an increase in the private sector, where Co-operative societies (4th), the Private Sector (6th) and NGOs/CBOs (10th) feature prominently.

Indicator 5: Frequency (average number of bribes paid, per client p.a.).

On average, people are paying significantly fewer bribes to all organizations. Significant improvements were recorded by the Immigration Department (8^th to 25th) and the Nairobi City Council (from 5^th to 17th). Poorly performing organizations include the Ministry of Agriculture/Livestock (25^th to 6th) and the Ministry of Gender, Sports Culture and Social Services.(7thand first time on the Bribery Index).

Indicator 6: Average size of Bribes.

The two top offenders, the Teachers Service Commission (Kshs.13, 000) and the Kenya Police (Kshs.10, 800), also top the list of the largest increases in size of bribes paid. (By Kshs.8, 560 and Kshs.10, 200 respectively). Others with significant increases include the Postal Corporation, the Judiciary and Co-operative Societies. Significant reductions were recorded by the Public Universities, who were ranked first last year and moved from Kshs.35, 000 to Kshs.1, 550; State Corporations and Public Colleges.

The Bribery Index Table.

Aggregate Index 2004
		2004	2004	2004	2003	2003	2003
Rank	Organization	national	urban	rural	national	urban	rural
1	Kenya Police	72.4	62.2	75.3	57.3	57.6	55.9
2	Teachers Service Commission	30.6	23.0	28.6	18.7	24.2	12.2
3	Local Authorities n.e.s	25.2	31.3	20.7	17.3	17	18.1
4	Judiciary	23.7	30.1	21.1	24	24.7	23.6
5	Ministry of Lands	23.6	28.4	22.0	24.5	21.2	31.4
6	Provincial Administration	22.7	30.0	21.6	26.7	23.9	31.8
7	Nairobi City Council	20.4	21.0	27.4	26.2	27.8	16.6
8	Immigration Department	18.2	21.8	12.7	30.1	31.8	24.9
9	Kenya Revenue Authority	17.8	21.0	14.7	28.8	25.3	28
10	Ministry of Culture,Gender& Sports	16.9	11.2	19.0
11	Central Govt n.e.s	16.8	21.2	14.5	25.5	22.7	31.1
12	Cooperatives	16.3	17.7	15.9	12.5	15	12
13	Public Hospitals	15.3	16.4	15.3	21.9	24.1	17.3
14	Registrar of Persons	15.0	16.7	14.0	21	20.5	21.9
15	Private Sector n.e.s	14.4	11.9	17.4	17	17.3	15.9
16	Ministry of Agriculture/Livestock	14.0	17.1	12.6	5.8	14.9	5.4
17	Kenya Power & Lighting Company	12.8	13.1	15.0	12.9	12.7	15.8
18	Ministry of Education	12.7	24.8	10.9	14.3	12.8	16.2
19	State Corporations n.e.s	12.7	13.5	12.8	30.1	37.5	10.5
20	Ministry of Water Development	12.1	16.0	8.4	8.9	12.3	4.2
21	National Social Security Fund	11.4	15.0	7.8	18.8	18.8	18.7
22	Ministry of Health	10.8	11.1	11.2	12.7	12.3	13.2
23	Public Universities	9.2	11.4	8.5	21.6	21.9	16.6
24	Public Colleges	9.1	12.0	7.3	13.2	16.9	4.3
25	NGOs/CSOs	9.0	6.4	10.3	7.3	7	8
26	Kenya Tea Development Agency	8.9	14.8	7.9
27	Postal Corporation of Kenya	7.1	13.3	0.8	4	5.4	2.3
28	Public Schools	6.9	8.7	6.2	8.5	11.7	5.1
29	International Orgs/Dip. Missions	5.3	4.7	6.3	8.9	8.8	5.6
30	National Health Insurance Fund	4.1	3.0	4.9
31	Coffee Board of Kenya	4.0	-	3.9
32	Financial Institutions n.e.s	3.3	3.8	3.0	8.2	11.1	3.9
33	Kenya Commercial Bank	2.8	0.7	2.8	3.8	3.1	4.5
34	Religious Organizations	2.3	3.1	2.6	2.4	2.6	2.6