The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index | Scant Progress Against Corruption

Kenya, 31st January 2023:

The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by Transparency International (TI), the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, reveals that most countries have made little to no progress in tackling corruption in more than a decade amidst deteriorating global peace.

The report shows a clear connection between violence and corruption, as countries that score lowest on the Global Peace Index also scored very low on the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index. Crime continues to undermine trust in governments and their ability to protect the public, leading to increased security threats that are harder to control.

On the other hand, conflict creates opportunities for corruption and makes governments less able to address it. “Corruption has made our world a more dangerous place as governments have collectively failed to make progress against it; they fuel the current rise in violence and conflict – and endanger people everywhere,” Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of the TI International Board, said. “The only way out is for states to do the hard work, rooting out corruption at all levels to ensure governments work for all people, not just an elite few.”

Global Highlights

The CPI uses a scale of 0-100 (where 100 is the cleanest and 0 is the most corrupt). Countries and territories are ranked based on their perceived levels of public sector corruption.

The report is a composite index, a combination of surveys and assessments of corruption collected by various reputable institutions. The 2022 edition of the CPI ranked 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives. Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand topped the index, with 90, 87, and 87 points, respectively, while South Sudan, Syria, and Somalia fell at the bottom with scores of 13, 13, and 12, respectively. More than two-thirds of countries scored below 50 out of 100.

Regional Outlook

Kenya obtained a score of 32 out of 100, a slight improvement from 30 points in 2021, and ranked position 123 out of the 180 countries and territories assessed. Kenya’s score (32 points) matched the Sub-Saharan average score of 32 but fell below the global average score of 43 (a score below 50 indicates severe levels of public sector corruption).

Rwanda tops the East African region with 51 points compared to 53 points in 2021, Tanzania scores 38 from 39, Uganda has 26 from 27, and Burundi has 17 from 19 points. Countries that scored above the global average from the African region included Seychelles (70 points), Botswana (60 points) Cabo Verde (60 points).

Kenya’s Performance Across the Years. Compared to CPI 2021, Kenya had a change of two scores, only from 30 to 32 points. The 5- year trend analysis shows that Kenya had a change of five scores between 2018 (27 points) and 2022 (32 points). A similar change is seen in the 10-year trend analysis, where Kenya has changed five scores between 2012 (27 points) and 2022.

However, there have been fluctuations between the years, with 2014 and 2015 recording the lowest scores at 25 points and the highest score in 2022 at 32 points. Kenya’s slight improvement over the years can be attributed to a sustained effort in developing policies and laws and building institutions toward implementing the 2010 Constitution, specifically accountability-focused provisions.

There has also been increased awareness of the manifestations of corruption at national and county levels resulting from higher media coverage, political rhetoric, and civic engagements exposing corruption. Despite developing policies, laws, institutions, and public dialogue on corruption, Kenya continues to suffer from a high level of petty and grand crime.

Petty corruption predominantly manifests when citizens seeking public services often face demands to pay bribes, and decisions by public officials are made based on advancing or safeguarding personal interests. Grand corruption, on the other hand, has continued to manifest in managing public resources, processes, and institutions being skewed to benefit people in positions of power and authority.

Corruption about Conflict, Peace, and Security On corruption as a critical driver to insecurity, Kenya, as a Lower Middle-Level Income country, tends to fall under countries where poverty and crime have a close relationship. In a corrupt environment, where wealth is shared among the elite and income inequalities are exacerbated, the poor tend to rely on bribes and other forms of corruption to access essential services.

Corruption, therefore, tends to be a fertile ground for organized crime as criminals are aided in their illegal activities by collaborating with corrupt public officials. This fuels social grievances as it diverts public funds towards private interests. Ultimately, it undermines the public’s trust in the state’s capacity or willingness to enforce laws and policies to ensure the corrupt are held accountable.

The Fight Against Corruption under the new administration The Kenya Kwanza Coalition, in its manifesto, promised to end the weaponization and politicization of anti-corruption efforts by allowing the relevant institutions to exercise the independence given to them by the Constitution freely.

Key among the plans was to grant financial independence to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the police, to end their reliance on the Office of the President, to promote accountability and openness in the management of public affairs, to institutionalize open governance in all State organs and agencies, and publish an annual State of Openness Report.

However, the government still needs to live up to its billing in the fight against corruption. The current regime has, in several instances, disregarded the leadership and integrity standards set out in Chapter Six of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 by appointing into public office individuals who are under investigation or have been charged with criminal cases, economic crimes and corruption, and even others who have been adversely named in parliamentary reports, commissions of inquiry among other competent public fact-finding institutions thus raising questions on its commitment to address corruption.

Besides, almost nine publicly known corruption and other criminal cases of high-profile individuals have inexplicably been dropped by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in less than five months since the new government came into power, and the individuals exonerated from graft charges appointed into various public service positions.

“The withdrawal of corruption and other cases has caused a steep fall of public confidence in the justice system in the country and anti-corruption efforts. Dropping of corruption cases casts doubt on the ODPP’s independence, transparency, fairness, competence, professionalism in prosecution, and its mandate in the justice system in Kenya,” Sheila Masinde, Executive Director, Transparency International Kenya, said. “To effectively tackle corruption in the country, independent institutions such as the ODPP must now take responsibility to ensure due regard for the public interest, the interest of the administration of justice, and the prevention and avoidance of abuse of the legal process.

Failure to take these steps will reverse the gains registered so far in addressing corruption.” TI-Kenya proposes the following measures to propel anti-corruption efforts: 1. Building a culture of ethics and integrity: Appointing authorities should uphold the Constitutional provisions on the principles of leadership and integrity by appointing public office people who meet the standards set out in the Constitution. Further, the religious sector, civil society, education institutions, and the media should initiate multisectoral efforts to build a national value system based on the value of integrity.

Further, every parent should instill good ethical morals, especially in the younger generation, which is the future of this country. Values like integrity, honesty, responsibility, and personal discipline, among others, should be taught and practiced to facilitate learning and assimilation of basic good manners that will cultivate a better culture of integrity and eventually enable society to find its moral compass.

2. Political will to address corruption: The political class must demonstrate goodwill to support the fight against corruption by ending interference in ongoing investigations and corruption cases. They must also endeavor to strengthen institutional frameworks that aid anti-corruption efforts, including safeguarding the independence of oversight institutions and regulatory agencies.

3. Civic action: Kenyans should continue to safeguard their civic rights, demand adherence to the rule of law, and must refuse to engage in acts of corruption, report, and demand action for corruption cases.

4. Media and corruption reporting: The media should continue to investigate and expose corruption and sustain reporting of corruption cases to support efforts to bring perpetrators of crime to book. Note to the Editors  Transparency International Kenya is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1999 in Kenya to develop a transparent and corruption-free society through good governance and social justice initiatives. TI-Kenya is one of the autonomous chapters of the global Transparency International movement that are all bound by a shared vision of a corruption-free world. 

The CPI is the flagship research product of Transparency International, the global civil society organization that has been leading the fight against corruption for more than 25 years.  Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption. The index offers an annual snapshot of the relative degree of corruption by ranking countries and territories from all over the globe. In 2012, Transparency International revised the methodology used to construct the index to compare scores from one year to the next.

For more information, visit www.transparency.org/research/cpi. 

Data Sources: The CPI 2022 is calculated using 13 different data sources from 12 other institutions that capture perceptions of corruption within the past two years. Nine data sources were used for Kenya in 2022, including the African Development Bank CPIA, Bertelsmann Foundation Sustainable Governance Index, Economist Intelligence Unit Country Ratings, Global Insight Country Risk Ratings, World Bank CPIA, World Economic Forum EOS and World Justice Project Rule of Law Index. Media contact: Gerald Omumbo – 0703247825 or 0722296589 or email: gomumbo@tikenya.org www.tikenya.org www.transparency.org