• Kenya loses $4.7 billion (KSH608 billion) annually to corruption.
• Standardization and digitization of processes would be very effective tools to fight the scourge.
Maina wa Njuguna
Kenyan Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi said that the country looses USD 4.7 billion (KSH608 billion) annually to corruption, according to the country’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
In other words, the country hemorrhages about $13 million dollars (KSH 1.67 billion) daily to corruption. According to World Bank Open Data, Kenya’s gpd in 2023 stood at $107.44 billion (KSH13. 75 trillion).
Kenya is ranked 126 out of 180 countries in the 2023 Transparency International Global Corruption Index. The higher the score, the higher the depravity of the country’s public officials.
Mr. Mudavadi spoke to Supply Chain and procurement forum 2024 in Mombasa, Kenya. He said it was sad that perpetrators of corruption found it easier to engage in illegalities with government-funded projects than donor-funded ones.
The chairman of Kenya Institute of Supplies Management (KISM) John Karani said the goal was to develop and improve tools that guard against corruption. He noted standardization and digitization of processes would be very effective tools to fight the scourge.
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) reveals the magnitude of corruption levels in a country. The Global Corruption Index ranks how fraudulent each country’s public sector is perceived to be according to experts and businesspeople.
KIND OF CORRUPTION MEASURED BY CPI
The data sources used to compile the CPI specifically cover the following manifestations of public sector corruption:
• Bribery – offering something of value to someone in exchange for something that benefits the briber.
• Diversion of public funds. Improper and illegal expenditures of public resources.
• Lack of justice Officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences
• Ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector. The legal framework for accountability.
• Transparency. Excessive red tape in the public sector which may increase opportunities for corruption.
• Nepotistic appointments in the civil service.
• Laws – disclosure of finances and potential conflicts of interest of public officials.
• Whistle blower protection laws for those who report cases of bribery and corruption.
• State capture by afew opportunists whereby public policies are redirected from the public inorder to serve their narrow interests.
• Accessibility to information on public affairs/ government activities.
10 AFRICAN COUNTRIES SCORE HIGH ON CPI (MOST CORRUPT)
Somalia 🇸🇴, South Sudan 🇸🇸, Equatorial Guinea 🇬🇶, Libya 🇱🇾, Sudan 🇸🇩, Republic of the Congo 🇨🇬, Comoros 🇰🇲, Chad 🇹🇩, Burundi 🇧🇮, Eritrea 🇪🇷.
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