Graft: Constitution biggest obstacle

• The score places Kenya at position 146 out of 180 countries surveyed.

• The country is the 34th most corrupt country in the world.

The constitution has been identified as the greatest impediment to the fight against graft in a report by a corruption watchdog released Wednesday.

Transparency International warns failure to enact a new constitution would be detrimental to the country’s recovery efforts from rampant corruption.

“TI Kenya holds that the inequalities and injustices that have led to violence and insecurity that we witness in the country today is as a result of systematic graft sanctioned by a deeply flawed constitution,” Job Ogonda, the TI Kenya executive director said during the launch.

The graft watchdog warns in the International Corruption Perception Index 2009 report that rampant corruption was fast eroding Kenya’s attractiveness as an investment and tourism destination.

According to the report, Kenya recorded marginal improvement but one still considered dismal with a score of 2.2 on a ten point scale on corruption perception compared to last year’s 2.1.

The score places Kenya at position 146 out of 180 countries surveyed, from 147 in 2008, but in proximity to endemically corrupt states such as Zimbabwe and Russia, TI Kenya said. This means the country is the 34th most corrupt country in the world.

The position also places Kenya at position 32 out of 47 African states surveyed while Botswana is the top-ranked African state at position 37 globally with a score of 5.6.

Rwanda is the best placed nation in the East African Community block at position 89 with a score of 3.3. Tanzania ranks 20 positions above Kenya at 126 with a score of 2.6 while Uganda is at position 130 with a perception index of 2.5.

New Zealand has the highest corruption perception index of 9.4 globally according to the 2009 CPI report.
Yesterday’s launch was the latest in a series of reports that the corruption watchdog has released in the recent past warning of continued public disenchantment with the coalition government.

The country is also lumped together with Guinea, Zimbabwe and Niger as countries where political leaders have failed to address the vicious cycle that links corruption to poverty and harassment of activists.

“Local anti-corruption activists and whistleblowers courageous enough to publicly expose weaknesses in accountability systems are increasingly at risk as government crackdowns limit democratic opposition and stifle civil society’s ability to express the voice of the people,” reads the report.

With government efforts to tackle corruption seen as ineffective across the region, CPI calls for renewed commitments to implement anti-corruption reforms and legislation besides introduction of preventive measures including education programmes.

“This will help restore public trust and contribute to a reduction in the levels of corruption throughout the region.”

Kenya too finds itself at the tipping point of civil disobedience due to historical and continuing bad governance.

“Compounding the conundrum that Kenya finds itself today is a deeply divided society along ethnic and social lines,” Mr Ogonda noted.

The draft constitution launched Tuesday, the TI Kenya boss stated, presented an opportunity to reverse the corruption trends and avert further degeneration of the country.

He said the draft contains positive elements that the country needed to embrace.

“The draft constitution has positive elements that would reduce opportunities of corruption and abuse of power that exist today,” he observed.

"For example, the draft constitution subjects presidential powers to account to parliament and the judiciary.”

Mr Ogonda also said that the draft by the Committee of Experts also attempted to make the civil service more independent from political influence.

He called for sober debate and compromise on the draft to thrash out elements that may be deemed “unacceptable” such as the powers of the Prime Minister to sign cabinet documents.

The CPI 2009 draws on 13 different polls and surveys from ten independent institutions carried out among experienced observers such as business people and country analysts.

All survey sources assess levels of corruption in the public sector.