List of Most Corrupt Institutions in Kenya in 2025, Police Service Tops
- Transparency International published the Kenya Bribery Index 2025, highlighting the police and other most corrupt institutions
- The survey sampled thousands of Kenyans across the counties and used five factors as the basis of the report
- The report indicated the most negatively impacted institutions in terms of both frequency and bribery prevalence
TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto has over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering profound insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.
A report by Transparency International Kenya (TI-Kenya) has revealed that bribery continues to be a persistent barrier for many Kenyans seeking public services, with the police, civil registration, business licensing, and land offices ranked as the most corrupt.
Source: Twitter
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According to the Kenya Bribery Index 2025, one out of four Kenyans experienced bribery within the previous 12 months.
At least 70% of them acknowledged paying a bribe, demonstrating widespread corruption in government organisations.
How was the bribery survey done?
Five key indicators served as the basis for the report: the aggregate index, the impact of bribery, the likelihood of bribery, the average size of bribes paid by Kenyans to obtain services, the shares of national bribes, and the locations of the bribes.
For regular Kenyans, particularly young people and small business owners, bribery continues to be a significant barrier.
"It weakens public confidence in institutions and disproportionately affects those who can least afford it," Sheila Masinde, the executive director of Transparency International Kenya, stated.
Kenyans aged 18 and older made up the survey's target population, which was drawn from each of the 15 counties that were chosen using basic random sampling.
Which are the most corrupt Kenyan institutions?
1. The National Police Service
The National Police Service was named the most bribery-prone organisation for the third consecutive year.
According to the survey, there was a 72% likelihood that people would be asked for a bribe while interacting with police.
"Out of every 10 Kenyans who interacted with the police in the study period, seven found themselves in a bribery situation," the reported indicated.
At 51%, the police were likewise rated as having the worst performance on the prevalence of bribery indicator.
The police received over 40% of all bribes revealed in the survey. This aligns with the police being ranked as the most negatively impacted institution in terms of both frequency and prevalence.
2. Land services and civil registration
With scores just over 64.6% and 62.4%, respectively, the land services and civil registration were the other two underachievers.
It is noteworthy that for half of the services sampled, the probability of running into bribery was greater than 50%.
3. Motor vehicle licensing
Motor vehicle licensing was named the second worst performing on the prevalence of bribery indicator at 48% after the police.
This indicated that one citizen paid a bribe to obtain the services they were seeking, for every two who encountered a bribery situation while visiting these institutions.
4. Judiciary
The average bribe in the Judiciary was the greatest, with people paying about Ksh 18,800 to obtain justice.
Source: Twitter
In 2025, the likelihood of encountering bribery in the Judiciary stands at 18.6%, while the overall aggregate index is 40.8%.
Following closely after, land services had an average bribe of KSh 12,610, indicating that both justice and land ownership may become unattainable for people who lack the financial means.
5. Medical and health services
Between 2017 and 2025, the prevalence of bribery increased by 27% in the health and medical services industry.
The sector bribery prevalence increased by 19.6% from the previous study in 2019.
6. Business licensing
Business licensing similarly recorded an increase in bribery incidents from 34.6% in 2017 to 54.5% in 2025.
At least 25% of respondents sought licenses during the review period.
7. Educational services
The most alarming decline was observed in educational institutions.
The survey found that the probability of bribery increased from 19.2% in 2017 to 55.8% in 2025.
8. Tax services
Tax services also formed the basis of the bribery survey, with a 12.1% likelihood of encountering bribery.
Due to increased bribery cases, there was an observable deterioration in tax services and Huduma centre services between 2017 and 2025.
9. Huduma centres
With a 9% rating, respondents said they were least likely to experience bribery when interacting with officials at Huduma centres.
What was Ruto's ranking?
In related news, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) ranked President Ruto as the world's second-most corrupt leader.
OCCRP disclosed receiving over 40,000 award nominations.
However, despite topping the list, it issued the award to former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad for leading one of the worst regimes in history.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
