World Anti-Corruption Day: Graft masters rake in Sh300 trillion annually

Probably overwhelmed by the state of graft in the country, you did not notice that today is the World Anti-Corruption Day. December 9 was set aside by the United Nations to create awareness on corruption and outline ways to combat it. The day has been observed annually since 2003. According to the UN, over Sh100 trillion is paid in bribes and more than Sh200 trillion is stolen through corruption every year in the world. In developing countries, according to the United Nations Development Programme, funds lost to corruption are estimated at 10 times the amount of official development assistance which is $153bn. The statistics indicate that most governments do not have the best interests of their citizens, hence the prevalence of graft. In Kenya, the situation is not any different. A report by Transparency International titled Corruption Perception Index 2018 released earlier this year, ranked Kenya among the most corrupt countries in the world. Countries were ranked on a scale of zero (most corrupt) to 100 (clean) which means that the lower the score, the more a country is perceived to be corrupt. Out of 180 countries, Kenya tied at 144 with Nigeria on a score of 27. Somalia and South Sudan are the most corrupt nations with a score of 9 and 12 respectively. At 27, Kenya has slightly improved from last year's score of 26 that saw her being listed in the top ten corrupt nations according to the 2018 US News and World Report rankings. In December last year, The Standard revealed the shocking numbers in the plunder of the nation after compiling former Auditor General Edward Ouko's five-year report. "In the last five years, Kenya could possibly have lost Sh5 trillion to corrupt individuals, cartels fueled by leaky government processes and an incorrigibly corrupt public service," reported The Standard. Kenya has been plagued by a long list of corruption scandals which are yet to be resolved, the most infamous one being the Sh100 billion-Goldenberg Scandal which brought Kenya's economy to its knees. Another notorious scandal was the Anglo-leasing affair. Here is a list of Kenya's corruption scandals for which answers have not been provided. The latest graft case was Kimwarer and Arror dams' scandal where Sh22 billion was reportedly missing. 2019 also saw a maize scandal where Sh1.9 billion was allegedly stolen in a conspiracy between the National Cereals ad Produce Board and shady traders.

That aside, there was the National Youth Service Scandal in which like a movie, came in two parts. The first part unraveled in 2015 when Sh791 million was alleged to have been stolen and part two of the scandal that happened in 2018,  alleged looters made a multi-billion theft stride and Sh9 billion was quoted to be missing. 2016 alone saw several scandals in which more than Sh250 billion was allegedly stolen. The scandals include the Eurobond Scandal where the Auditor General confirmed that Sh215 billion could not be accounted for. In the same year, there was the Afya House scandal (Sh5 billion), Galana and Mwea Irrigation Scheme (Sh3.5 billion) and The Chickengate scandal (Sh 59 million). Other scandals pricing of the Standard Gauge Railway, laptop tender row, hustler-jet scandal, UKUTABerg scandal, Karen land scam and the Ruaraka land scandal. All these mega corruption scandals have not been resolved with some taking more than a decade later, after numerous arrests and summons by anti-graft agencies. ?

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