Several Nakuru County departments prone to graft - EACC

What you need to know:

  • The report, Corruption and Ethics in Devolved Services: County Public Officers’ Experiences, 2015, followed a survey that was conducted between April and June 2015 involving interviews with staff in various county departments.
  • The report mentions unprofessionalism, poor remuneration, and lack of financial facilitation as the three key challenges facing the promotion of ethical conduct among staff in county governments.
  • Among its recommendations is that county governments should develop and implement clear and unambiguous anti-bribery compliance policies and ensure adequate training of county staff.

The procurement and revenue collection processes in Nakuru County are the most prone to corruption, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has reported after conducting a study.

A survey by the commission also shows that the county departments of finance and economic planning, procurement, Public Service Board and human resources, roads, public works and infrastructure, land and health are the most prone to corrupt activities in the county.

In the newly released report, the EACC also cites high corruption levels in employment, recruitment and promotions in the county government as well as in the licensing and registration processes.

The report, Corruption and Ethics in Devolved Services: County Public Officers’ Experiences, 2015, followed a survey that was conducted between April and June 2015 involving interviews with staff in various county departments.

The commission wanted to use it to map out corruption-prone areas and unethical practices in county public services for targeted and systematic interventions.

FAVOURITISM

Prevalent forms of corruption reported in the county included bribery, procurement irregularities, favouritism in awarding tenders and embezzlement.

Bribery was found to be most prevalent in the land department and in revenue collection services, especially the parking services.

The effects of the corrupt activities were manifested in poor road construction and shoddy implementation of projects, poor services and a poor image of the county, according to the report.

The commission says the county government has not developed definite anti-corruption policy and legislative structures to fight the vice in its departments.

The report mentions unprofessionalism, poor remuneration, and lack of financial facilitation as the three key challenges facing the promotion of ethical conduct among staff in county governments.

Other challenges cited by respondents in the survey included victimization of the people who report misconduct, weak enforcement of the codes by leaders in the counties and political interference, among others.

The survey findings established that corruption is moderately high in county governments due to the increase in high-profile cases involving back-door deals and lack of accountability on public funds.

UNDERDEVELOPMENT
Generally, county government departments most prone to corruption across all the 47 counties include procurement, finance, Public Service Boards, roads and public works.

“Employees across the 47 counties received the largest amount of bribe in roads and public works services followed by housing and building services, recruitment services and procurement processes respectively,” the report reveals.

It further says corruption has resulted in county underdevelopment, poor services, poor road construction, budget deficits, denial of public participation in project selection and budgeting process, unfair recruitment processes, hampering services as public funds are embezzled, a widened gap between the rich and poor and enormous loss of government funds.

Among its recommendations is that county governments should develop and implement clear and unambiguous anti-bribery compliance policies and ensure adequate training of county staff.

The commission also proposes a top-down approach to curb bribery cases. It says county executives should take responsibility for establishing a culture that makes it clear that bribery and corruption is unacceptable.

It also recommends that county governments conduct regular technical audits in the roads departments.

“This will improve fiduciary standards of the roads under construction and address weaknesses in the potential poor quality of the constructed roads or bridges,” he said.

The commission says financial audits should take place during each stage of the project cycle, that is during the construction phase and at the completion of the built infrastructure.