By BBC World Service International Publicity
Published December 11, 2010
Kenya has recently been described as a swamp of flourishing corruption by the US Ambassador in the country, according to the leaked American diplomatic cables as published in the German publication, Der Spiegel. A BBC World Service poll that surveyed more than 13,000 people across 26 countries appears to confirm that corruption is the most frequently discussed global problem in Kenya.
Corruption is a topic of discussion for 63% of Kenyans, the highest proportion among all countries surveyed, and three times the global average.
Unemployment follows as the next most talked about global issue (38%). Corruption is also seen as a very serious global problem by 86% of the population, well above the 68% global average.
Extreme poverty emerges as the second most serious global problem for Kenyans (82% very serious), well above the global average (69%), and ahead of perceptions in the rest of Africa. The rising cost of food and energy (77%), and the spread of human diseases (67%) are ranked third and fourth, respectively.
According to the BBC-commissioned poll, corruption is the world’s most frequently discussed global problem. The findings show that more than one in five (21%) of those polled said they had discussed corruption and greed with friends and family over the past month, making it the most talked about global problem, ahead of climate change (20%), extreme poverty and hunger (18%), unemployment (16%), and the rising cost of food and energy (15%).
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The results are drawn from a survey of 13,353 adult citizens across 26 countries and the poll was commissioned by the BBC to understand which global issues they consider most serious. It was conducted for BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan. In Kenya, 520 people were interviewed face-to-face nationally, between July 13 and August 6, 2010. GlobeScan coordinated fieldwork between June and September 2010. Results within countries are considered accurate within +/- 3.0 to 4.9% 19 times out of 20.
