Majority of Kenyans believe Eurobond money was stolen - study

What you need to know:

  • The same study also found that more than eight out of 10 Kenyans do not feel that their voices are heard when it comes to issues and policies affecting them at the national and county levels.
  • This means that an overwhelming majority of Kenyans feel that their views are not taken into account when national and county executives are making decisions that affect them.

Two out of three Kenyans feel that reporting wrongdoing, including corruption, does no good, and a quarter of them are afraid that it might actually cause them trouble, a new report has said.

In addition, three out of four people believe the allegations surrounding the Eurobond saga are true. About the same number also believe that the government has not provided all the information on the Eurobond.

The survey by Twaweza East Africa sought to gauge Kenyans’ perceptions of crime and corruption and access to information.

“Interestingly, fewer citizens are enthusiastic about government financial information such as budgets and expenditure reports. Given that corruption was reported as the biggest challenge facing Kenya, this should be of concern to activists and government who work on the assumption that increased transparency around government financial information can help to reduce corruption,” the researchers said.

VIEWS IGNORED

The same study also found that more than eight out of 10 Kenyans do not feel that their voices are heard when it comes to issues and policies affecting them at the national and county levels.

This means that an overwhelming majority of Kenyans feel that their views are not taken into account when national and county executives are making decisions that affect them.

“The majority of citizens believe that their opinions are only slightly taken into account at both national and county levels. Fewer than two out of 10 citizens feel that their opinion counts to a large extent at the national (15pc) and county (18pc) levels respectively,” said the report.

On access to information, respondents were found to be more willing to trust traditional news sources, such as television and radio, for information.

According to the study, two out of every three respondents rely on radio for information while only 18 per cent use television as a primary source of information.

SOCIAL MEDIA NOT TRUSTED

Social media platforms, however, are still viewed with scepticism, with a majority of those polled saying they do not trust them.

“When it comes to the level of trust in various media sources, 60pc of all citizens state that they trust radio “very much” while 47pc say the same about TV. Only 7pc of all citizens trust social media to this extent, while 56pc of Kenyans claim they do not use it,” stated the report.

Overall, very few Kenyans believed that the government could offer timely and useful information in an effective way.

Kenyans have low expectations regarding government and information: Just four out of 10 think they will be able to access fairly basic information from government offices, such as how to report a broken water point (42pc) and what medicines are available at the local health centre (31pc), the study said.