No improvement in corruption index

Kenyan public sector officials are perceived to be just as corrupt under President Mwai Kibaki as they were under former president Daniel arap Moi, according to the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI). Kenya scored 1.9 out of a clean score of 10 in both this year's and last year's Corruption Perceptions Index, formulated by TI, which reflects perceived levels of corruption among politicians and public officials. Seven separate surveys were used to assess the country's performance, which ranked Kenya 122 out of 133 countries surveyed this year. President Kibaki was elected in late December 2002 on a platform of good governance and fighting the country's all-pervasive corruption. At the launch of the index in London, the Chairman of TI, Peter Eigen said Kibaki was the new leader of a country that had been "devastated by corruption". "He has made the fight against corruption a major priority, but the task is an enormous one," Eigen said. "To turn Kenya into a country where corruption is not the order of the day requires sustained commitment at both the national and international level, both in terms of financial resources and practical support." Nine out of 10 developing countries scored less than 5 out of 10, TI reported. "Their governments must implement results-oriented programmes to fight corruption, but they also urgently require practical help tailored to the needs of their national anti-corruption strategies," said Eigen. International backing was needed for civil society in corrupt countries to monitor governments' behaviour, he said. Donor countries and international financial institutions should also "take a firmer line" to stop financial support to those governments and blacklist their own companies caught paying bribes abroad. "If corruption is allowed to flourish unchecked, more children will suffer from lack of clean water and lack of medicines, and will go to schools with no books," he warned. "The time for excuses is long past. It is time for decisive action by governments and business alike." The text of a UN Convention Against Corruption was finished on 1 October, which will be followed by a signing ceremony in Mexico in December. The UN General Assembly will then be asked to make 9 December a new annual International Anti-Corruption Day.