Kenyans decry incessant corruption but reluctant to report incidents

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Kenyans decry incessant corruption

but reluctant to report incidents

Findings from Afrobarometer Round 6 survey in Kenya

April 14, 2015

Nairobi Safari Club


At a glance

2

• A majority of Kenyans say that corruption has

increased over the past year.

• Nearly 1 in 3 Kenyans have had to pay a bribe at

least once in the past year, but most did not

report it to authorities

• Ordinary citizens and the media are key allies in

the fight against corruption.


What is Afrobarometer?

• An African-led, non-partisan survey research project that

measures citizen attitudes on democracy and governance, the

economy, civil society, and other topics.

• Started in 12 countries in 1999; expanded to 35 African countries in Round 5 (2011-2013); round 6 surveys ongoing (2014 -2015)

• Goal: To give the public a voice in policymaking by providing

high-quality public opinion data to policymakers, policy

advocates, civil society organizations, academics, news media, donors and investors, and ordinary Africans.

• A national partner in each country conducts the survey. In Kenya,

Afrobarometer Round 6 survey was conducted by the University of

Nairobi’s Institute for Development Studies (IDS).

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Where Afrobarometer works


Methodology

• Nationally representative sample of adult citizens

All respondents are randomly selected.

Sample is distributed across all 47 counties and along urban/rural divide in proportion to their share in the national

adult population.

Every adult citizen thus has known and equal chance of being

selected/included in the survey.

• Face-to-face interviews in language of respondent’s choice.

• Standard questionnaire which allows comparisons across

countries and over time.

• Sample size in Kenya of 2,397 adult citizens yields a margin of error of +/-2% at a 95% confidence level.

• Fieldwork for Round 6 survey in Kenya was conducted between

12 November and 5 December 2014.

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Survey demographics

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Gender %

Male 50

Female 50

Location

Urban 36

Rural 64

Education No formal education 8

Primary 36

Secondary 36

Post-secondary 20

Age %

18-25 22

26-35 36

36-45 21

46-55 11

56-65 7

Over 65 3

Religion

Christians 86

Muslims 9

Other 5


Results


Key findings

■ Perceived corruption in Kenya increased over the past

year.

■ The government has performed poorly in fighting

corruption.

■ Police, government officials, and members of Parliament

are perceived as the most corrupt.

■ Business executives are regarded as the most corrupt

among non-state actors.

■ Payment of bribes to access public school services, medical care and identity documents is low compared to payment of

bribes to obtain help from the police and courts.

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Key findings cont’d

■ A majority of Kenyans do not report bribery incidents. ■ Mainly due to fear of consequences and perceived inaction by

authorities

■ Kenyans believe that ordinary citizens can make a difference in the fight against corruption. ■ Mainly by refusing to pay bribes and reporting corruption incidents

■ Most Kenyans view the media as effective in revealing government corruption and support this watchdog role.

■ A majority of Kenyans view the ruling coalition as being better

able to fight corruption in government than opposition parties.

■ Difficulty in accessing services is a driving factor in citizens’ payment of bribes.

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Perceived corruption in Kenya | 2014

Respondents were asked: In your opinion, over the past year, has the level of corruption in this country increased, decreased, or stayed the same?

10

64

18 14

4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Increased

somewhat / a lot

Decreased

somewhat / a lot

Stayed the same Don't know

Pe

rce

nt

Government performance in fighting corruption

Respondents were asked: How well or badly would you say the current government is handling the fight against corruption? (%)

11

11

53

68 70 70 85

39

30 26 27

0

20

40

60

80

100

2002 2005 2008 2011 2014

Fairly badly / Very badly Fairly well / Very well

Perceived corruption within governance institutions | 2014

Respondents were asked: How many of the following people do you think are involved in corruption, or haven’t you heard enough about them to say? (% who say “most” or “all” of

them)

12

12

13

38

22

27

33

34

34

36

45

46

75

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Traditional leaders

Religious leaders

Business executives

Kenya Defence Forces

The president and officials in his office

Judges and magistrates

County governor and officials in his office

Kenya Revenue Authority officials

Members of the county assembly

Members of Parliament

Government officials

Police

No

n-s

tate

ac

tors

Sta

te a

cto

rs

Percent

Trends in perceived corruption (1)


them are corrupt)

13

8

27 28 29 27

41 42

49

45

30

34

46

52 46

2002 2005 2008 2011 2014

Presidency Members of Parliament Government Officials

Trends in perceived corruption (2)


them are corrupt)

14

59 64

73 70

75

36

49

39 34

28 29

35

28 33

2002 2005 2008 2011 2014

Police Kenya revenue authority officials Judges and magistrates

Is ‘difficulty to obtain a service’ a driving factor to payment of bribes?

Respondents were asked: How often, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe, give a gift, or do a favour to access the following services ?

15

13%

60%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Easy / very easy Difficult / very difficult

Difficulty to obtain assistance from courts

Pa

id a

brib

e t

o g

et

ass

ista

nc

e f

rom

co

urt

s

Assistance from the courts

3%

25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Difficulty to obtain public school services

Pa

id a

brib

e t

o g

et

pu

blic

sc

ho

ol s

erv

ice

s

Public school services

‘Difficulty to obtain services’ and payment of bribes cont’d

Respondents were asked: How often, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe, give a gift, or do a favour to access the following services ?

16

13%

53%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Difficulty to obtain identity document

Pa

id a

brib

e t

o o

bta

in a

n id

en

tity

do

cu

me

nt

Obtain identity document

19%

63%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Easy / very easy Difficult / very

difficult

Difficulty to obtain help from the police

Pa

id a

brib

e t

o o

bta

in h

elp

fro

m p

olic

e

Obtain help from police

‘Bribe for service’: proportion who paid bribe to access service

Respondents were asked: How often in the past year, if ever, did you have to pay a bribe,

give a gift, or do a favour to access the following services?

17

9

11

20

39

42

49

91

89

80

61

58

51

0 20 40 60 80 100

Get public school services

Get medical care

Get water / sanitation / electric

services

Get an identity document

Get assistance from courts

Obtain help from the police

Paid a bribe Never paid a bribe

Reporting of bribery incidents

Respondents were asked: If you ever paid a bribe for any of the services discussed above,

did you report any of the incidents you mentioned to a government official or someone in authority?

18

[CATEG

ORY

NAME]

[PERCE…

[CATEG

ORY

NAME]

[PERCE…

70

30

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Never paid a bribe Paid a bribe

Pe

rce

nt

Main reasons for not reporting corruption | 2014

Respondents were asked: Some people say that many incidents of corruption are never reported. Based on your experience, what do you think is the main reason why many people do not report corruption when it occurs? (%)

19

4

1

2

2

2

3

4

6

7

8

9

25

27

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Don't know

Other

Most people do report incidents of corruption

People don't have enough time to report it

Corruption is too difficult to prove

It's too expensive to report

People don't know how to report it

People don't know where to report it

They would implicate themselves as bribe-givers

The officials they would report to are also corrupt

Corruption is normal / Everyone does it

Nothing will be done / It wouldn't make a difference

People are afraid of the consequences

Ruling and opposition parties: Which can fight corruption?

Respondents were asked: Looking at the ruling and opposition political parties in this country, which would you say is most able to fight corruption in government? (%)

20

Urban Rural Male Female Total

Ruling political

parties 65 71 67 71 69

Opposition political

parties 23 16 21 17 19

Neither of them 10 9 10 8 9

Don't know 2 4 2 4 3

Can ordinary people help fight corruption?

Respondents were asked: Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement: Ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption?

21

50%

62%

66%

62%

55%

58%

40%

33%

27%

32%

36%

35%

6%

5%

7%

5%

6%

6%

4%

1%

1%

3%

2%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Primary or

below

Secondary

Tertiary

Urban

Rural

Overall

Agree / strongly agree Disagree / strongly disagree Neither agree nor disagree Don’t know

Citizens’ ideas on most effective ways to combat corruption

Respondents were asked: What is the most effective thing that an ordinary person like you can do to help combat corruption in this country?

22

4

1

1

1

2

2

3

6

20

24

37

0 10 20 30 40

Don't know

Other

Sign a petition

Participate in protest marches

Talk to friends and relatives about the problem

Support an organisation that is fighting corruption

Speak out about the problem

Vote for clean candidates

Report corruption when you see or experience it

Nothing / Ordinary people cannot do anything

Refuse to pay bribes

Percent

News media and the fight against corruption

Respondents were asked: Which of the following statements is closest to your view?

Statement 1: The news media should constantly investigate and report on government mistakes and corruption.

Statement 2: Too much reporting on negative events, like government mistakes and corruption, only harms the

country.

23

80

73 68

15

23 28

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2008 2011 2014

Pe

rce

nt

Media checks government Avoid negative reporting

Media effectiveness in revealing corruption | by

education level

Respondents were asked: In this country, how effective is the news media in revealing

government mistakes and corruption?

24

16% 16% 18% 16%

70%

82% 81% 76%

15%

2% 1%

8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Primary or below Secondary Tertiary Total

Not at all / not very effective Somewhat / very effective Don't know


• A majority of Kenyans perceive increased corruption in the country over the past one year.

• A majority of Kenyans believe that effective integration of ordinary citizens in the fight against corruption can make a significant impact.

• The role of the media in revealing government mistakes and corruption

cannot be overemphasized as it provides essential checks to the government through investigations and corruption exposures.

• The culture of not reporting bribery incidents to the authorities is undermining the fight against corruption in Kenya. Underlying factors for this non-reporting should be explored.

• Although the performance of the ruling coalition is perceived to be poor in handling the fight against corruption, a majority of Kenyans still feel it is better placed to fight corruption than the opposition parties.

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Conclusion


Thank you

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Kenyans decry incessant corruption but reluctant to report incidents

Government & Nonprofit

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