Corruption level rose two-fold in 2023, Kenyans paid Sh11,625 average bribe to access services in public offices, Eacc survey shows

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (Eacc) now says that Kenyans gave an average bribe of Sh11,625 in 2023 to access services in public offices.

A recent survey by the commission revealed that Sh11,625 is the average bribe that a member of public is likely to be asked to part with in order to access services at a public office.

 According to the study, the figure spiked from Sh6,865 reported in 2022.

 The report further found that job seekers, passport applicants paid largest kickbacks during the period under survey.

 Meanwhile, the National Police Service (NPS), Department of Immigration and Registrar of Persons has once again topped the list of most corrupt government departments in the survey.

 At the same, Nairobi, West Pokot and Uasin Gishu topped the County Bribery index while Kajiado emerged as the least corrupt county.

 The survey further reveals that 98 per cent of those polled said they did report a case of bribery.

A paltry 2 per cent said the reported.

The number of people willing to participate in corruption or unethical conduct fell to 14 per cent in 2023 as compare to 16 per cent during the same period in 2022

Survey, 2023 EACC said the amount was almost double the average bribe Kenyans gave in 2022.

“The overall national average bribe was Sh11,625 in 2023 indicating an increase compared to Sh6,865 in 2022.” The survey report reads in part.

According to the report, service seekers paid the largest amount of bribe while seeking employment (Sh163,260), applying for a passport (Sh74,428), seeking a police abstract (Sh20,300), obtaining a tender (Sh17,000) and solving land conflict (Sh12,673).

“On average, service seekers paid the largest amount of bribe at the National Transport and Safety Authority (Sh81,801), the Judiciary (Sh49,611) and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Sh40,000).” Eacc report shows.

The sample size for the survey was computed at 5,100 individuals drawn from 510 clusters distributed across all 47 counties.

Data collection was preceded by a questionnaire design and two days of training held between October 11-12, 2023.

Data collection was conducted from October 13 to November 4, 2023.

Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used.

Computer Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI) were conducted with household heads with a literature review providing critical insights into topical issues on anti-corruption.