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Tag: corruption

  • Kenya faces a possible blacklisting by the European Union in light of widespread corruption

    The European Union (E.U) has threatened to bar Kenya from doing business with its member states as a result of corruption.

    This statement was made by the E.U Ambassador to Kenya, H.E Henriette Geiger who was speaking ahead of the Kenya E.U Business forum that will be hosted in Nairobi on 21st and 22nd February 2023. In her speech, Ms. Geiger said that it is in Kenya’s best interest to fight off corruption speedily because it may put off the investors. The ambassador also went on to add that Kenya is on the watchlist due to money laundering. This results in scaring off people from investing in the country.

    Ms. Geiger was reacting to the recent Corruption Perception Index (CIP) by Transparency International that was released on Tuesday, 31 January, 2023. Kenya came in at position 123 out of 180 globally with 32 points out of 100. This was an improvement from 2021’s results where we were at position 128 out of 180 with 30 points.

    The results also showed that Kenya’s score of 32 points was equal to the sub-Saharan average of 32 but was lower than the global average of 43. Therefore, being a point of concern since a score of less than 50, according to Transparency International, signifies high levels of public sector corruption.

    The CIP results indicate that corruption is still a major problem in our society. It has become so common to the point that it is almost normal. Corruption has undermined our country’s development and progress. It also takes many forms from petty bribery to large-scale embezzlement of public funds.

    One of the most evident types of corruption that we have all encountered at some point is petty bribery. This happens particularly in the public sector. People frequently pay bribes in order to access fundamental services like getting a passport or accessing medical care. This not only undermines trust in the government and public institutions but also unfairly burdens the most vulnerable and poor members of society.

    Another type of corruption that is widespread is grand corruption, in which powerful individuals embezzle huge sums of public funds.

    Fighting off corruption will require a multifaceted strategy where the government and the public actively collaborate to eradicate this plague. Together, we can make progress in Kenya so that corruption is no longer an obstacle to development. This will be tremendously beneficial for us as a country.

  • Billions of Kenyan Shillings lost to Graft Daily

    By: Joy Ng’ethe (Shiku3joy@gmail.com)

    Thumbnail photo courtesy of kenyans.co.ke

    Kenyans have expressed their outrage over remarks made by the president on 18th January during an interview when he confessed that Kenya loses up to 2 billion shillings daily to graft. The president made these remarks when he was being interviewed on various Kikuyu radio stations.

    The angered citizens took their frustrations to social media expressing their distaste in the state of affairs as revealed by the man who had promised to fight corruption in his manifesto.
    Some users are quoted as saying, “I like how in Kenya we talk about 2 Billion shillings like its 20 bob”. Another user commented, “No, Mr President. I cannot allow people to eat Kshs. 2 billion each day while paying MORE THAN 50% of my income in taxes. If that amount of theft (over Kshs. 700 billion a year) was extinguished, Kenya could soon have a budget surplus!”

    The president went ahead to emphasize the importance of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) as well as defending the high cost of the referendum. He mentioned that the money needed for the referendum would probably be less compared to the amount of money lost to graft daily.

    Considering that the Kenyan debt is set to account for 69.8% of the country’s GDP by 2023, the rage expressed by the citizens is highly justified. The Kenyan debt to foreign countries currently stands at almost seven trillion with the expected addition of one trillion Kenyan shillings to the debt for the financial year 21/22. Given that 2 billion is lost to graft daily, it would take Kenya about one and a half years to repay her debts from this amount lost on a daily.

    Disclaimer: This calculation does not take into account the country’s earnings rather is using the amount mentioned by the president lost to his corrupt government. The president ended his remarks by saying that he is set on fulfilling his remaining goals for the next year he is in power.