Kenya is not the third most corrupt country in the world, as Raila Odinga claimed

Corruption Perception Index, 2016. MAP | TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL

…That’s the reason why Kenya ranked very high in the Transparency International and Corruption index. I think they now rank Kenya as the third most corrupt country in the world. Kenya is playing in the super league of corruption with giants like Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, and DR Congo and so on…”

Nasa flagbearer Raila Odinga at the Presidential Debate at the Catholic University on July 24

Is Kenya the third most corrupt county in the world?

Kenya was ranked number 145 out of 176 countries and territories in last year’s Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. This means that it was the 31st most corrupt country.

Kenya's score of 26 out of 100 placed it below the global average of 43. The score is on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). 

Kenya’s score has not changed much in the last five years. In 2015, Kenya scored 25 and was ranked 139 out of 168 countries. This means it was the 29th most corrupt country, the worst ranking since 2012.

LEAST CORRUPT

The previous year it also scored 25 but was number 145 out of 175 countries and territory making it the 30th most corrupt nation. In 2013, the year the Jubilee administration took office, Kenya scored 26 and was ranked 136 out of 175, making it the 39th most corrupt county. But in 2012, the score was much worse at 21 and the ranking, 139 out of 175 countries, making it the 36th most corrupt country.

The least corrupt country in Africa was Botswana, which was ranked 35 globally with 60 points. Last year the worst-ranked country was Somalia, with a score of 10 while the best ranked was Denmark with 90.

Nicaragua and Kenya tied at 145, while DR Congo scored five points less than Kenya, placing it at position 156. However, Sri Lanka did much better than Kenya with a score of 36, resulting in its being ranked 95, 50 places ahead of Kenya.

According to Transparency International, corruption and socio-economic inequality are interlinked.

Given Kenya’s ranking on recent corruption indices, it can be argued that the country plays in the big leagues of corruption giants along with some of the countries that the National Super Alliance candidate mentioned, but it is not the third most corrupt country in the world.