Lawyers top the list of corrupt professionals

Lawyers, land surveyors, and medical practitioners are the most dishonest professional groups, according to the latest national corruption perception survey.

The survey shows that more than one third of Kenyans think that lawyers are the most corrupt, closely followed by land surveyors.

Doctors and nurses are perceived to engage in corruption by 26.30 per cent of those who participated in the survey. 

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which carried out the survey, says that close to 35 per cent of those who participated in the study had sought medical services at private or a public institutions over the past one year.

“Overall, 36.1 per cent of the service seekers were asked for a bribe. Of those who were asked for a bribe, 41 per cent of the respondents indicated that they paid the bribe,” notes the National Corruption Perception Survey of 2011, released last Friday.

EACC, which says that the level of corruption in the country is higher in the latest survey compared to the previous one, sampled 5,990 households between August 23 and September 30 last year.

The average size and magnitude of bribes dropped by 12.68 per cent to Sh3,251.78 from Sh3,724.14 in 2010, with those in urban areas forking out an average of Sh4,214.56  compared to those in rural areas who paid an average of Sh3,143.51.

The level of bribes paid differs with education level. Sh1,491.49 was paid by those with no education, a high of Sh12,070 paid by those with undergraduate degrees, which drops sharply to Sh3,000 paid by those with postgraduate degrees.

Majority of those who paid bribes said that they did so because it was demanded; others paid because it was taking too long to get services, while the minority paid it to obtain the service.

dmugwe@ke.nationmedia.com