Kenya ranked 25th most corrupt country in Africa by Transparency International

An annual report by Transparency International has ranked Kenya as the 25th most corrupt country in Africa, with its worst score since 2012.

The public service Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report observed that a majority of third world countries are struggling with corruption with the vice growing stronger each day.

Each country’s score is a combination of at least three data sources drawn from 13 different corruption surveys and assessments. These data sources are collected by a variety of reputable institutions, including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

Experts and business people then used a scale of 0–100 to assign a score - with the most corrupt being ranked zero while the least corrupt countries were assigned 100.

Kenya dropped a point from its 2020 score of 31 to a score of 30 in the latest CPI making the corruption profile worse than it was in the 2020 research.

Thirty-one is Kenya's lowest score since 2012. Historic scores on the CPI have been 28 (2019), 27 (2018), 28 (2017), 26 (2016), 25 (2015), 25 (2014), 27 (2013) and 27 (2012).

What counts as corruption within the public sector?

The TI survey measure bribery, diversion of public funds, officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences, ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector, nepotistic appointments in the civil service, and laws ensuring that public officials must disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest.

The research further revealed that corruption all over the world had been curtailed by the Covid pandemic, however, the poorest performing countries in Africa included Somalia, South Sudan, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, and Burundi. While the best-performing countries in the continent were Botswana, Rwanda, Mauritius and Namibia.

The top countries globally include Denmark, Finland, New Zealand and Norway while the most corrupt countries in the world from the research are Afghanistan, North Korea, Yemen and Venezuela.

According to Transparency International war-torn and authoritarian countries where power and control rest with a few are more corrupt with fewer calls for accountability.