The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, under powerful Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang’i, was listed as the most corrupt docket by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
On Tuesday, November 18, the agency’s chairperson, Eliud Wabukala released the National Ethics and Corruption Survey 2018, in which Matiang’i’s ministry was ranked ahead of Health and Agriculture and Irrigation dockets.
“Respondents indicated that one is most likely to experience corruption and unethical conduct in the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government (47.5%) followed by the Ministry of Health (17.9%), Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (13.8%),” Wabukala stated.
Lands and Transport ministries followed while Industrialisation was the least corrupt at 0.1%.
Under the Interior Ministry, the Office of the Registrar of Persons was listed as the most corrupt institution at 19.9%. Public hospitals (19.7%), and chiefs office (16%) followed, in the institutions’ list.
On Friday, October 25, Matiang’i surprised senior government officials when he stormed into the Department of Civil Registration at Bishop’s House, sending home two high-ranking officers.
He further ordered the arrest of staffers deemed to have been interfering with the issuance of birth certificates.
Kenya Police Service emerged as the most corrupt at government institution at 39 per cent followed by Kenya Power (12%) and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) at 11%.
Respondents cited unemployment (36.8%) poverty/famine (27.2%), high cost of living (16.9%), bad infrastructure (13.4%), unfavorable economic conditions (11%) and insecurity (10.2%), after corruption as the top challenges to Kenyans.
“We would want to see that corruption cases have timelines, we don’t want the case to go on until all witnesses die. We are asking lawmakers to put this into consideration.
“There also needs to be a law for managing seized assets. We need a law on unrestricted access to financial declaration documents as well as wealth declarations,” Wabukala proclaimed.
