Nairobi — The Government yesterday rubbished a UN report that has painted Kenya negatively on corruption and crime rate.

Spokesman Alfred Mutua said the report "has a lot of gaping holes that need to be sealed".

Contrary to the report, he sad, statistics by the Government indicate that crime and corruption had drastically reduced in the last two years.

"We are keenly studying the methodology and the modality used in collecting that data and then we shall appropriately reply to it," Dr Mutua told a Press conference in his office at Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

He said even though the country may not have achieved the level it wanted in the reduction of crime and corruption, much had been achieved in the two areas.

The report, Why Fighting Crime Can Assist Development in Africa, cites corruption, insecurity, unemployment and illiteracy as Kenya's stumbling blocks to development.

It put the crime rate at 70 per cent while unemployment and illiteracy levels had shot up to between 33.1 and 90.1 per cent.

With only about 180 police officers for every 10,000 people and few judges and magistrates, Kenya is among poor countries with a limited criminal justice system, says the report.

Statistics by the police, public health and victims surveyed put the conviction rate at a mere 11 per cent.

These are the figures the Government disputes saying the crime rate had particularly dropped by between 15 and 20 per cent in the last two years.

At the same time, Dr Mutua defended the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission against accusations by Cabinet minister Charity Ngilu that it was biased in the discharge of its duties.

Mrs Ngilu, the minister for Health, has accused the anti-graft body of being used by a "certain clique" as a weapon to settle scores with its political opponents.

But Dr Mutua said the KACC relied on the corruption reports presented to it by the public for it to initiate investigations.

"There is nobody who is targeting certain individuals or tribes and if a certain area is receiving more focus, it is because it has been a major concern to the taxpayers," said Dr Mutua.