The Kenya police has yet again topped the list of the most corrupt government departments in a new survey by the Ethics And Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

According to the corruption study, the National Police Service was voted as the most corrupt (23 percent), followed by the National Police Service Commission (13 percent), while public hospitals came in third at 9.8 percent, followed by the Kenya Revenue Authority (8 percent), National Land Commission (7.3 percent), National Transport and Safety Authority (4.9 per cent) and Immigration Department (4.3 per cent).

When ranked based on ministries, the ministries of interior and health were voted as the most corrupt after 64.7 percent of the respondents interviewed claimed they had been asked for a bribe in order to obtain services.

The Transport Ministry, Ministries of education and Devolution were also listed as corrupt.

The EACC survey was conducted between September 18 and October 24 across the 47 counties and interviewed 5,977 household respondents and 15 key informants who sought government services in form of asking for information, assistance, requesting a document or other administrative procedures.

The Kenya Police Service continues to be a force that is only feared by the public but not respected.

Last month President Uhuru Kenyatta announced some key police reforms that are expected to bring about efficiency in the police service.

The reforms included structure, command, housing and change of uniforms.

INTEGRATION OF REGULAR AND ADMINISTRATION POLICE

Under the new police reforms, 39, 680 Kenya Police Service and 24,572 Administration Police will be integrated into general duty police officers under the command of Deputy IG- Kenya Police Service.

“That will give us a total of 64,252 Police Service General-duty Police, given the unified command we can expect better security for Kenyans,” said the President.

NO POLICE HOUSING IN BARRACKS

Under the new police reforms, officers will no longer be housed in barracks and will only be paid a house allowance so that they can seek accommodation among the community.

“To solve the problem of housing police and prisons officers, and to better integrate them with the Kenyans they serve, the policy of mandatory and free housing for junior officers in institutional houses is hereby abolished. Instead, house allowances for all ranks of these officers will be provided,” said the Head of State.

The public has however been skeptical that the deeply rooted culture of corruption and impunity that has characterized the police service is about to change any time soon with critics saying it’s about time the government reconsiders the police recruitment criteria.