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Kenya’s branding agency, Brand Kenya Board has broadly criticised the runaway corruption, saying the vice is painting a wrong picture of the country to would-be investors.
It also says that graft is hampering reforms needed to boost economic growth.
The agency’s Chief executive Mary Luseka said in an interview that while several advancements had been made to tackle bureaucratic challenges, particularly with automation of systems in public offices, grand theft on the other hand still remains a major obstacle for the country, saying it is detrimental to the gains made thus far.
“There have been a few rogue individuals who are trying to spoil our image. The rest of the world look at us as a corrupt destination before they see Kenya as a nation.
We therefore need to package ourselves well in terms of branding to stand out from the rest of the world if we are to attract right platforms for growing our tourism, investments and other developments,” said Ms. Luseka.
Luseka said grand theft was the key problem for Kenya, explaining what was happening was hampering the several businesses, making it difficult to attract foreign investors.
A recent report done by Transparency International on Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranked Kenya as one of the most corrupt countries globally at position 139 out of the total 168 nations sampled in the March, 2016 (TI) study.
The quest to contain the country’s runaway corruption has constantly been drenched down by hurdles with some of the high profile graft cases like National Youth Service (NYS), the NHIF conspiracy, the famous Anglo-leasing and related cases among others remaining unresolved.