What governance experts have to say about Nakuru's drop in corruption ranking
An ariel view of Nakuru city.
Last year Nakuru County ranked fourth in the list of most corrupt counties.
Well, it’s like you guys took this shame to heart as this year you dropped to number 44 making it among the least corrupt counties like Siaya, Kajiado and Makueni counties.
According to the National Survey Report 2024 released by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), each time a service is sought after in Nakuru the likelihood of a person being asked for a bribe stands at 0.74 times.
This means each time a person pays a bribe in the county there is a 0.74 likely hood of them receiving the service than if they did not pay it.
Comparing this to counties such as Kilifi, Mandera and Wajir and Kwale which stand at over 1.00, Nakuru is at an all-time low.
Nakuru recorded a lower prevalence of bribery, with 26.7% of respondents who sought services reporting that they paid a bribe.
Additionally, in Nakuru, the average bribe paid stands at sh. 5,611.
From most of the rankings on the report, Nakuru was ranked among the bottom half of the counties. Who would have ever thought that being among the last counties would be a good thing?
When it came to why people are likely to engage in unethical conduct and corrupt practices most of the respondents in the report gave various reasons.
“Most of the people said they would do it when seeking employment, for the second group of people, this was the only option for them, for the others they would give bribes to avoid police arrests and also while seeking medical services” read part of the report.
According to governance expert Laban Omusundi says the ranking is actually commendable.
"When it comes to matters corruption I can say that the fish starts rotting from the head. So when the duty bearers or head of these institutions are corrupt it trickles down to the rest," he says.
Omusundi however says there is much more room for improvement.
On her part, Shiko Kihika the founder of Tribeless Youth says that she sees this from two perspectives.
"One we can say that the duty bearers are being held accountable. On the other hand, we have cases of corruption that have gone unreported therefore, a positive image of the county is upheld”.
Kihika continues, “From where I sit we have so many stalled projects from the previous regime and even in the current one. We do not have answers as to how funds of this project were used. When we lack accountability and transparency when it comes to how we utilize public resources, that is a major problem," she says.
She concludes by saying that more effort should be put in fighting corruption adding that Nakuru can do better.