APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA the procurement system works well, there is value for money, implying that services are delivered efficiently. Openness, competitive bidding and transparency in the award of contracts are basic requirements of good PFM. Procurement accounts for 46% of all corrupt cases in Kenya. The procurement mechanisms of the national and county governments need to be comprehensively evaluated to inform policy decision. 281. Currently, corruption remains a major challenge in Kenya, as it is considered endemic and systemic. Combating money laundering has also gained prominence as part of the war against organized crime, drug trafficking, corruption and terrorism. Although, various legal and institutional arrangements for fighting corruption are in place, they have not made significant impact, making the international ratings of Kenya’s economic governance fretting. A significant administrative reform is the Huduma Initiative. The Government has established Huduma Centres to serve as a one-stop shop for processing services offered by the public sector. The Huduma Centres have improved accessibility to the services provided by the government, reduced personal contact and minimized the opportunity to offer bribes and corruption. 282. In order to make a success of the anti-corruption war, a Task Force was appointed by the President in March, 2015 to the Review of Legal, Policy and Institutional Framework for Fighting Corruption. The report of the Task Force is very comprehensive and telling as it carried out a situation analysis of the various aspects of the subject matter, identified the problems and made recommendations. The wide-ranging recommendations of the Task Force encompassed legal, policy, institutional frameworks in the devolved system of government, partnerships and multi-agency collaboration, technical assistance, capacitybuilding, strict adherence to the Constitution of Kenya, among others, in the fight against corruption. The government has accepted the recommendations and advised to prioritize by classifying the recommendations into short run and long-term implementation plans for effectiveness. 283. The various institutions/organizations are poorly coordinated making follow-through of corruption cases to a final determination a difficult task and time-consuming process. The general perception of the people during the CRM was that the country’s judicial process is slow, resulting in many cases going without hearing for very long periods of time. The challenges of money laundering are numerous. Kenya’s location and porous borders make it an important transit point for drug trafficking and money laundering, and the limited capacity of financial institutions and relevant bodies to detect, investigate and prosecute money laundering are two major problems that cannot be ignored in the fight against money laundering. 284. Regarding economic integration, Kenya is a member of the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Kenya is also a member of the World Trade Organisation that came into existence on 1st January 1995. It is the only international institution tasked with overseeing the negotiations and implementation of rules governing the multilateral trading system. In terms of the regional integration process, COMESA entered an FTA in 2000 and became a Customs Union on 8th June 2009. With regard to the level of implementation of EAC and COMESA integration programmes, Kenya | 135 |