Barbara Among
5 July 2009
Kampala — Kenya is the most corrupt county in the East African region followed by Uganda, the latest Bribery Index report has said.
The report by Transparency International said Tanzania was the least corrupt.
The level of corruption reflected by people from whom a bribe was solicited or expected stood at 45% in Kenya, 34.6% in Uganda and 17% in Tanzania.
The East African Bribery Index measures the extent and magnitude of bribery in the region.
It is based on actual interactions of citizens with public institutions and resultant bribery demand and payments.
The report noted that throughout the region, the vice is targeting the poor people.
In the three countries, the Police was listed as the most corrupt institution, followed by the judiciary, the defence ministry and the public service.
The Uganda Revenue Authority was the only tax authority in the region that appeared among the top five corrupt institutions.
The bribery report said the three power utility companies in the region, TENASCO of Tanzania, Kenya Power and Lighting Company and UMEME of Uganda are some of the most corrupt institutions.
Other public services that have extorted bribes from citizens include water, security, health, licencing, immigration and infrastructure.
"Corruption in these sectors contributes to poverty and increases the cost of doing business in East Africa," the report read.
In all three countries, people said corruption would increase in the next one year. Ugandans and Kenyans said their governments were not doing enough to fight the vice.
The new comers on the list of corrupt institutions in Uganda include The Aids support Organisation (TASO), Mulago Hospital, religious organisations, secondary schools and universities and international organisation.
Postal companies are seen as the least corrupt in Uganda and Kenya and microfinance in Tanzania.
Most people said they paid bribes in order to access or speed up services and to avoid the consequences of failing to comply with certain regulation.
Other reasons were employment related services such as recruitment, promotion and transfers.
In Uganda, about 81% of people from whom a bribe was expected or solicited actually paid.
Approximately 9% of those who failed to pay bribes when asked or expected to were denied services.
About 72% of those who paid bribes accessed the services they bribed for.
Over 40% of bribes in Uganda were paid to the security and health sectors.
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