Give State institutions space, funds to effectively fight corruption menace

Kenya scores 30 out of 100, and is among 45 countries in the sub-Saharan region that have scored below 50, with a score below 50 indicative of a failure to control corruption.

In 2024, Kenya scored 32 points, marginally up from 31 points in 2023. Kenya’s score has ranged between 25 and 33 points over the last 13 years, signalling high levels of corruption and stagnation despite the investment in the legislative and institutional infrastructure to address corruption.

But the time is nigh to utilise the arsenal at hand to fire up the war against corruption.

A key prerequisite given the challenge of executive and political breach on oversight and enforcement institutions and poor implementation of laws, is respect for arms of government, independent institutions and offices, including Parliament, Judiciary, Office of the Auditor General, Office of the Controller of Budget, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission by the political class.

Granting these institutions the room to function and exercise their mandate as per the law must be matched with sufficient funding for anti-corruption and key oversight institutions to execute their mandates, particularly regarding investigation, prosecution and adjudication of corruption cases.

Given the challenge of conflicting interests that largely determine public decisions and expenditure, full implementation of the Conflict of Interest Act 2025 must be prioritised at the national and county level. Implementing mandatory declaration of interests, enforcement of penalties, and proactive compliance checks across ministries, departments and agencies is thus key.

The full implementation and public accessibility of the Beneficial Ownership Register is also critical for detecting hidden interests by public officials in companies receiving state contracts.

Linking this registry to procurement systems would further expose conflicts of interest in real time. Regarding public procurement, the digitisation of public procurement and the publication of all awarded contracts on a central, accessible platform are key.

Procurement entities must disclose public contract awardees and ultimate beneficial owners, including associated politically exposed persons, to avert enrichment through proxy companies.

The 2025 CPI points to a decline in bold and committed leadership to tackle corruption.

Leaders with integrity are a key missing ingredient in Kenya and a fundamental element of reform to truly turn the tide against corruption.

Kenyans have an opportunity to elect a clean slate of leaders come 2027—value-driven, public-spirited and who will truly put Kenyans first by implementing all the above listed and other requisite reforms.

A key driver of corruption in Kenya has been the outpouring of illicitly acquired money in election campaigns therefore legislative amendments and regulations on campaign financing need to be instituted and implemented in the 2027 general elections to ensure transparency on the sources of campaign funding and expenditure thus curbing the use of dirty money in the campaigns, and funding for illicit activities such as voter bribery and electoral violence considering the recent emergence of hired goons unleashing violence in political gatherings and against opponents.

The writer is the Executive Director of Transparency International Kenya