Today, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission will release results of the 2023 National Ethics and Corruption Survey.

The report provides data on the perceptions, magnitude, forms and levels of corruption both in the county and national governments.

It also ranks Ministries, Departments, Agencies and counties based on perceived corruption levels. But what is the value of conducting surveys if such initiatives fail to reverse the trend?

What is the point of knowing which government ministry or County government is the most corrupt if the data collected just ends up gathering dust on a shelve somewhere serving no purpose at all? As Kenyans, we are already acutely aware that the scourge of corruption, especially within government institutions, is at embarrassingly high levels.

We are forced to interact with this fact every single day of our lives. What we need right now is not more diagnosis of the problem but rather a prescription to treat the ailment. Anything short of that is an exercise in futility.

Haven’t we seen enough high profile corruption cases withdrawn from court due to lack of evidence in recent months? When was the last time we witnessed a conviction in a corruption related case in Kenya? We seem to have made corruption part of the system and we even actively budget for it, if assertions by the auditor general are anything to go by.

The survey report to be released today will confirm this to a great extent. The sad thing, however, is that it will do little else beyond that. This trend needs to change…All we are saying is, such survey reports need to count for something, beyond the paper they are printed on.