NAIROBI (Reuters) - Burundi is east Africa's most corrupt nation according to an anti-graft watchdog, while Kenya, which usually tops Transparency International's (TI) annual list of graft-prone countries in the region, was third.
Burundi and neighbouring Rwanda were included in the East African Bribery Index survey 2010, commissioned by TI-Kenya for the first time this year.
Burundi had a bribery rate of 36.7 percent, Uganda 33 percent, and Kenya registered an improvement with a 31.9 percent prevalence of bribery this year from 45 percent in 2009.
Tanzania was fourth with 28.6 percent rate while Rwanda had a bribery rate of just 6.6 percent.
"The revenue authority in Burundi is the most corrupt institution in the region, with a prevalence of 90.2 percent, dislodging the Kenya Police which topped ranks in 2009," said Samuel Kimeu, the group's executive director.
Kenya's police force, which has dominated a separate Kenyan bribery index since it was first published in 2002, was third after Burundi's police. None of Rwanda's institutions were ranked in the index of 116 organisations in the region.
Kenyans go to the polls on Aug 4 to vote on a new constitution which analysts say will have stronger accountability safeguards and will serve as a gateway for much needed reforms aimed at curbing corruption in the public sector.
Reuters Africa
