Alpha Rwath

• Police lead in Kenya Bribery Index

  Posted: July 18, 2008, 10:11 am by alpharwath

  
  

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  Transparency International - Kenya chapter released their annual Kenya Bribery Index 2008 at 10:30a.m. local time. This was the first bribery index to be released under the leadership of the new Executive Director, Job Ogonda, formerly in charge of the East and Southern Africa Desk at the TI headquarters in Berlin. It was also the first bribery index to be done by a different research advisor/consultant. Dr. Tom Wolf is now the new TI-Kenya Research Advisor taking over from Dr. David Ndii, who slowly withdrew his association with TI-Kenya following a series of events that dented the organization’s image including the forced resignation of its most visible Executive Director, Gladwell Otieno and the sacking of her successor, Mwalimu Mati by an over-enthusiastic board. Gladwell and Mwalimu are now running well funded outfits, AFRICOG and MARS Group, respectively. Within the secretariat, credible staff also left and though a few have remained, some continue to hold strings to the old board and to old thinking.

  Away from the politics of the organization, the Police were top on the list of the Bribery Index. This faulty methodology of the bribery index will always produce the police at the top because they have the highest interaction with the public and no institution will dislodge them from this priviledge. Usual suspects on the Bribery Index list include the Local Authorities/Ministry of Local Government (the immediate former minister who is also the Deputy Prime MInister is under fire for disregarding the ECK’s list of nominated Councillors), Minsitry of Lands (already embroiled in the Grand Regency Saga), Ministry of Immigration (the minister is currently under fire for giving work permits to undeserving foreigners), the Provincial Administration, the Nairobi City Council and the MInistry of Health. The study was carried out between April 25th and May 4th, too early for Kenyans to demarcate their interaction with public offices and minsitries according to the new bloated Grand Coalition government.

  The Bribery Index is slowly losing its flavour. Whereas in the days of John Githongo and Gladwel Otieno, it used to make the newspaper headlines, it no longer does so today. It’s on page 2 of Nation and page 18 of the Business Daily.

  Reliable sources inform me that the police stopped caring anymore about their ranking on the Bribery Index and have consistently snubbed TI-Kenya’s overtures to undertake joint ethics reform because the Central Bureau of Statistics have enlightened them about the faulty bribery index methodology.

  TI-Kenya is still parading the successes of its former strong workforce under Gladwell Otieno and Mwalimu Mati including ground-breaking and highly successful post Bribery Index institutional integrity studies with the Teacher’s Service Commission, the Kenya Commercial Bank and the Nairobi Water Company. The Kenya Commercial Bank’s head of the Ethics and Integrity Division attended the launch and made a presentation. The workforce under Gladwell and Mwalimu are all employed by leading international agencies including CHF International, PKF International, VSO International, UNDP, UN Arusha Tribunal and the Danish Embassy.

  Though nothing was done under Lisa’s two year tenure as Acting Executive Director , she still remains a pillar of strength and bridge between the old TI and the new TI. All eyes are on the new Executive Director, Job Ogonda.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes