Kenya launches anti-corruption website

Kenya’s presidency has launched a website allowing users to report corruption directly to the head of state, in a bid to improve the country’s reputation.

State house spokesperson said on Thursday the move demonstrated President Uhuru Kenyatta’s commitment to tackle rampant graft in the country.

“The president is committed to clean government and this site advances his intention to act strongly against corruption,” Manoah Esipisu said.

A form on the website allows users to remain anonymous and to upload video, audio recordings or other documents to the site as evidence, with a drop down menu providing a long list of civil service or government departments to complain about.

A mobile telephone service – so people can send in complaints by SMS text message – has also been set up.”You can now report corruption incidents directly to the head of state,” the website reads, at www.president.go.ke.

Kenya is ranked 139 out of 176 countries by the campaign group Transparency International, on its global corruption perceptions index.

Transparency International said earlier this month that while bribery remains high in Kenya, only seven in 100 reported or complained if they encountered corruption.

Over a quarter of people surveyed by Transparency International, said they declined to report corruption because they “knew no action would be taken if they reported” an incident.

Many victims are also reluctant to complain because bribing an official is in itself an offence.

It is not the first website in Kenya set up to tackle corruption – last year activist Anthony Ragui set up the “I paid a bribe” site, posting accounts of demands by corrupt officials and the schemes people used to escape them.

The website gives a running total of all the bribes paid submitted to the site, but also lists positive stories of honest officials.