Activists film politicians handing out cash bribes

Published on 02/03/2013 00:00

A KENYAN rights group said yesterday it had secretly filmed several politicians running in Monday’s regional elections illegally handing out cash to would-be voters at rallies.

The general elections are the first since the country adopted a new constitution aimed at ­improving its democratic ­credentials.

“Several aspirants have engaged in attempts to induce support from voters through the direct and indirect disbursement of money,” the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said.

Bribery is so widespread that many Kenyans expect to be paid for turning up at rallies, analysts say, but it is rarely caught on camera.

Monitors from the watchdog used small cameras and mobile phones to film candidates running for regional seats dishing out cash. In one grainy video shot in Western Kenya, an aspiring county governor handed a wad of cash to aides who then distributed the money to supporters who had been made to kneel in lines among trees.

Another clip showed a Nairobi politician promising jobs and food to a small crowd in a down-trodden city neighbourhood before handing over a bundle of cash to be shared out.