KENYA Country Profile

Licences, Infrastructure and Public Utilities

Individual Corruption

The registry and permit services are considered to be very corrupt in Kenya, according to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2009. The average Kenyan household frequently has to pay bribes for simple bureaucratic tasks, such as the issuing of birth certificates or vehicle licences. Furthermore, as emphasised by the Bertelsmann Foundation 2010, corruption is also at the heart of the ongoing deterioration of the health system.

Business Corruption

According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Report 2009, excessive regulatory requirements such as licensing create widespread opportunities for bribery. This is supported by the US Department of State 2009, according to which, new foreign investment in Kenya is usually constrained by a cumbersome and highly discretionary licensing system that is subject to corrupt practices.

Transporters routinely overload trucks and then pay-off weigh-station clerks along transport routes. This practice has been reduced, but some companies still employ bribes to expedite shipments by the use of 'clearing agents'.

Political Corruption

In 2005, the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission carried out an examination of Registration and Licensing of Motor Vehicles and Enforcement of Traffic Laws. The examination targeted the Department of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Transport Licensing Board, Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit, Traffic Police, Ministries of Transport and Finance and Local Authorities. Findings arising from the exercise indicate the existence of a thriving parallel market for fake registration and licensing documents, leading to a massive loss of government revenue.

Several corruption scandals, such as the Anglo-Leasing Affair, have involved licensing and the Managing Directors of Kenya Power and Lighting, Telecommunications, Postal Services and Communication Commission of Kenya have all been sacked and charged with corruption in the past.

Kenya's government launched an investigation into the suspected embezzling of large quantities of maize in January 2009, following allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Agriculture by Justice Minister Martha Karua, according to a 2009 article by BBC News. These allegations came at a time when Kenya was severely affected by food shortages. Kenya's Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) and other state agencies have begun an investigation into this matter. Critics say Kenya's coalition government is partly to blame for the grain shortfall because of poor planning and high-level corruption involving the import, storage and sale of maize, as reported in a January 2009 article by Reuters.

The Kenyan government has suspended 50 officials over misappropriation of funds in two donor-funded projects, including the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme, in relation to which KES 101 million has been allegedly embezzled, as reported in a December 2009 article by Bloomberg. The matter has been handed over to the KACC for further investigation.

Frequency

The Word Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2010:
- Building a warehouse in Kenya requires a company to go through 11 administrative steps, taking an average of 120 days at a cost of 162% of income per capita - all well below regional averages.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give government administrative requirements (permits, regulations, reporting) in Kenya a score of 3.1 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely burdensome' and 7 'not burdensome at all').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 32% of households who had contact with registry and permit services in 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

- 11% of households who had to obtain utilities in 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

Transparency International Kenya: The East African Bribery Index 2009:
- 51% of respondents in the survey reported to have paid bribes to access or speed up services (this is an increase from 45% in 2008).

Afrobarometer: Summary of Results Kenya 2008:
- 23% of household respondents have paid a bribe, given a gift, or done a favour for a governmental official in the past year in order to obtain a document or permit.

- 12% of household respondents have paid a bribe, given a gift, or done a favour for a governmental official in the past year in order to get water or sanitation services.

Transparency International Kenya: Kenya Bribery Index 2007:
- Respondents in this citizen survey rank the Transport Licensing Board (TLB) as the second most bribery-prone organisation within the licensing bodies.

- The respondents pay an average of 14 bribes per year to the TLB, the highest frequency of bribery reported.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- Slightly more than 3% of companies surveyed identify business licensing and permits as a major business constraint.

- Slightly more than 79% of companies report that they expect to make informal payments to public officials to get things done.

- 29% of companies expect to give gifts to get an operating licence.

- 36% of companies expect to give gifts to get a construction permit.

- 23%, 27% and 34% of companies expect to give gifts to get an electrical, phone, and water connection respectively.