The Factors that Predict Systematic Police Bribery in Kenya
Objective: This paper identifies the factors that predict payment of a bribe to the police at the individual level in Kenya. Scope: Based on a survey of 2,399 respondents, the study’s dependent variable isself-reportedpayment of bribes to the police. Independent variables include bribesto receive various public services, and selected social and demographic indicators. The analysis is restricted to those persons who self-reportedpaying a bribe compared to those that possibly could have, but did not report paying a bribe. Major Findings: The most important finding was the analysis confirmedthe literature’s suggestion aboutthe existence of a culture of bribery in Kenya; multiple respondents reported paying multiple bribes. The payment of bribes to receive documents was the strongest predictor of payment of police bribes in the logistical regression analysis, and was just the tip of the iceberg. Conclusion: The findings related to the payment of police bribes and payment of bribes in other service provision areas were exceedingly strong. However, these findings do not apply to the entire country, and are limited to areas of Kenya which have more developed intra-structures.
