Ethics team is the least trusted public agency, says survey

The anti-corruption commission is the least trusted institution.

Only nine per cent of the population have “a lot of” confidence in the agency, according to a new poll by Ipsos.

More than three times that number (29 per cent) have no confidence in the agency. The poll results were released when the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission had presented files of public officers accused of corruption to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The media and religious leaders are the most trusted institutions, according to the survey.

Close to half (46 per cent) of the respondents expressed “a lot of confidence” in the media, with only four per cent saying they do not.

Only 16 per cent expressed “a lot of confidence” in the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC), the lowest approval figure the body has ever received.

Twenty-eight per cent of the respondents expressed no confidence in the polls body.

The agency has lost three quarters of its support over the past two years, following the 2013 elections.

NO CONFIDENCE IN IEBC

The proportion expressing no-confidence in the IEBC has remained above 20 per cent ever since its handling of the elections.

Before that, only two per cent of the population expressed no-confidence in the commission.

The IEBC was recently on the spot after some of its current and former officials were linked to corruption.

In terms of political affiliation, just one in every 10 Cord supporters have “a lot of confidence” in the IEBC.

However, nearly three times as many Jubilee supporters do, although this amounts to just a quarter of the respondents supporting the ruling coalition (24 per cent).

More than half of all the Cord supporters, or 52 per cent, have “no confidence at all” in the electoral body.

This is four times more than the Jubilee supporters, who hold the same view (13 per cent).
The survey was conducted before Cord Principal Raila Odinga threatened to boycott the 2017 elections.