[Tetemeko]

Over 40 pc Kenyans are corrupt, says ACPU
By Dennis Lumiti

http://www.eastandard.net/national/nat03052002008.htm

Over 40 per cent of Kenyans are corrupt, the Head of Research, Information and Public Education (Ripe) at the Anti-Corruption Police Unit (ACPU), Mr Gikunda Muketha, has said.

Muketha said majority of the corrupt individuals are traders.

He said research carried out by Ripe had established that 75 per cent of Kenyans have witnessed corruption taking place.

He said 60 per cent of the population have been direct or indirect victims of corruption.

Muketha said 37 per cent acknowledge publicly they are engaging in crooked deals or have done so in the past.

He said the findings had established that over 97 per cent of the population knows about corruption with 84 per cent being able to define and explain vividly what the vice is about.

Speaking to the East African Standard in Kakamega, Muketha said 60 per cent of Kenyans know that corruption is bad. “Seventy five per cent are aware that corruption is the biggest problem affecting the country,” he added.

The official said the fight against graft can only be won through concerted efforts between the Government and members of the public.

He said the research had discovered that businessmen were the only people who would admit that they engage in corrupt deals.

The stumbling block to the war against the vice, he added, was lack of knowledge on how it manifests itself.

“People do not know that corruption begins from homes where you will find parents favouring certain children and giving them more opportunities than others,” Muketha said.

He said ACPU was hopeful that corruption will be stamped out because 78 per cent of the population are optimistic that the problem can be eradicated.