That the fight against corruption in Kenya has stagnated may not be a surprise to many.

According to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) launched by Transparency International recently, Kenya's score remains constant at 2.1 since the year 2006.

Interestingly, this is the highest score attained since the zero tolerance post-Moi era began.

In 2002 and 2003, Kenya's score was 1.9. It improved by 0.2 in 2004 to attain a 2.1 score, which later slid to 2.0 in 2005. In 1998, Kenya scored 2.5, the highest score attained so far.

Between 1999 and 2001, the score was 2, 2.1 and 2 of out 10 respectively.

This indicates that zero tolerance policy to corruption or not, the perceptions of business investors and international non-state actors has remained almost the same on Kenya.

The success of the fight against corruption is based on both perceptions and reality.

It has been argued that the best score of 1998 was more of a perceptions issue that arose when the former president did not appoint his then vice-president back to office, after the 1997 General Election and at the height of Goldenberg saga.

This act was seen as a positive gesture and political will that would unravel the Goldenberg scandal.

It is obvious that the perception worsened when the former vice-president was, after all, re-appointed.

The public confidence in 2003 was so high that Gallup International, then, ranked Kenyans as the most optimistic people in the world.

The public actively arrested corrupt traffic police and reported corruption related scandals to authorities with the hope of complementing the Narc anti-corruption policy.

To the surprise of many, no punitive measure was taken against both the petty bribe seekers, and their counterparts involved in grand corruption.

The enthusiasm about the fight against graft soon waned and today, citizens are more resigned than before.

There is little to show for the billions invested in the zero tolerance policy thus far.

Between 2002 to date Kenya, has spent billions of shillings on the establishment of anti-corruption institutions and payment of salaries to officials working in these institutions.

However, Kenyans remain disillusioned about the success of the war against graft.

While the office of the Ombudsman has done virtually nothing since its establishment a year ago, government surveys indicate that Kenyans have lost confidence in the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), and instead prefer reporting corruption cases to the media.

Above all, anti-corruption offices in all ministries have not given Kenyans their report card since their establishment, making one wonder how these ministries monitor citizens' satisfaction beside strategically installing big billboards reading; "The ministry of this and that is a corruption free area".

It would add value if each ministry changed their strategy and compelled their officers in charge of anti-corruption to give Kenyans regular score cards.

Kenya, like most developing countries, continues to have more corruption due to flawed democratic system.

Salaries for public officials are low, and the scales are distorted and hugely dispersed from cadre to cadre. This undermines the sovereign functions of the states as bureaucracy is abused and used as a means to supplement low wages.

Inadequacy in service delivery increases as there are no clear mechanisms for monitoring government procedures.

Government officials then become more vulnerable to not only condone corruption, but to overtly demand bribes from desperate citizens seeking services from their respective offices.

Conversely, despite the probability of being caught being higher than before, the charges pressed against those caught are negligible compared to the returns they make from corruption.

Often, key government officials have been asked to step aside, hence breeding a culture of impunity in low level offices whose officials act as agents of not only government policies, but also its anti-corruption policy.

KACC continues to be at the mercy of the attorney general's office to have corrupt officials prosecuted.

The culture of impunity is so entrenched that government official's by-pass each other in making decisions even on corruption related issues.

Kenya's poor ranking on the CPI 2008 should thus be a wake up call. The Government should work on strengthening the oversight governance institutions and implement laws to improve service delivery.

The civil society too must work hard to encourage and sustain civic responsibility among Kenyans.

Ms Atieno is the communications officer, Transparency International-Kenya