COVER STORY
Corruption In Kenya:
What Is Wrong? What Do
We Do?
By George Mbithi
C
orruption in Kenya has become
a matter of great concern, both
domestically and internationally.
This is because corruption in this country
is no longer limited to a few rogue officials
at the top. The culture of corruption has
grown roots in society at large and become
a killer cancer.
It is even fashionable to be suspected of
corrupt dealings. We have seen enough
corruption suspects use the press coverage
they receive at the height of the suspicion
to launch their political careers. And …
we vote them into high ranking elective
positions, revealing how our moral fabric
is completely rotten.
The entrenchment of corruption in Kenya
points to the fact that something has gone
wrong in many aspects, primarily in the
governance of the country. Today, the
institutions which were designed for the
regulation of the relationships between
citizens and the State are being used
instead for the personal enrichment of
public officials and other corrupt private
agents.
An analysis of the cases of corruption
we have witnessed over the years and the
empty talk thereof in the name of fight
against corruption points to the fact that
the menace represents a governance ill.
" The primary cause of cor-
ruption in Kenya is related
to a societal state of being
whereby the basic institutions
that underpin and support
the rule of law and good gov-
ernance have been deliberate-
ly undermined or neglected to
the point where they can no
longer uphold the rule of law
or act in the best interest of
the nation. "
50 MAL29/19 ISSUE
" By any measure, persistent cor-
ruption and bad governance go
together. In other words, in those
countries where corruption is
embedded in their political econ-
omy, such as Kenya, there are
low governance scores and weak
governance institutions, and this
translates into sluggish economic
performance and lower rates of
growth as economic efficiency is
impaired. "
Incentives for corrupt behaviour have there-
fore arisen in Kenya, as well as in some other
African states, because public officials have
considerable control over the instruments
regulating valuable socio-economic benefits
and private parties are willing to make ille-
gal payments to secure those benefits.
demoralising, more destructive, more
disempowering to any citizen than a belief
that the system is rigged against them and
people in positions of power are crooks
who are stealing the future of their own
people,” lamented Senator Kerry.
I feel he had our current Kenya in mind,
even though the example he gave in this
speech was Nigeria. In Kenya today,
majority of the citizens feel that we
need an overhaul of the entire political
and governance system, because there
is almost absolutely nothing that can be
done to hold people accountable.
Strong Legal System
Before we go on, it would be important
to state that I surprisingly find Kenya to
be one of the countries with strong legal
system for combating corruption.
It is not just a Kenyan problem, I
understand. Africa is ailing from this
disease. Former United States Secretary of
State (2013 to 2017) John Kerry, speaking
at the World Economic Forum Annual
Meeting in 2016, said “When Nigeria’s
President Buhari took office, he inherited
a military that was underpaid, underfed
and unable to protect Nigerians from
Boko Haram.” Kenya’s Anti-Corruption and Economic
Crimes Act 2003 and Penal Code
criminalize corruption, active and passive
bribery, bribing a foreign official, money
laundering, abuse of office, extortion,
conflict of interest, bid rigging and
bribery involving agents. The penalties for
corruption include a fine of up to KES 1
million, or ten years’ imprisonment.
He continued that one of the reasons this
was the case was because much of the
military budget was finding its way into
the military generals’ pockets, alluding
to the run-away corruption in the West
African country. “And just this week we
saw reports that more than 50 people in
Nigeria, including former government
officials, stole 9 billion dollars from the
treasury,” said a visibly astonished Kerry. The Bribery Act of 2016 criminalizes
primarily private sector bribery, broadly
defined as “offering, promising, or
giving a financial, or other advantages,
to another person”, which may include
facilitation payments. The Act imposes a
duty on public and private entities to have
appropriate anti-bribery procedures in
place. Companies convicted under the Act
will be barred from doing business with
the government for 10 years.
He recalled his time as a prosecutor how
he found it almost impossible to hold
people in power accountable; but insisted
that he knows how important it is to
hold government officials accountable.
“The fact is, there is nothing that is more
The Public Officers Ethics Act 2003 sets
rules for transparency and accountability,
as well as gifts and hospitality. High-
level politicians are required to declare
their income and assets. The Public
Procurement and Disposal Act prohibits
corruption in public procurement, while
the Finance Act 2006 provides for
measures against tax fraud and guidelines
on tax administration; it also provides
sanctions on corrupt practices and expands
the tax bracket to capture a wider tax base,
thereby reducing opportunities for tax
evasion. The Service Commissions Act has
a Code of Regulations for civil servants
that requires meritocratic recruitment
and promotion of public officials; it also
enshrines their political independence.
The Anti-Corruption and Economic
Crimes Act and the Witness Protection
Act provides for protection of whistle-
blowers and forbids any disciplinary action
to be taken against any private or public
employee who assists an investigation
or discloses information for such an
investigation. However, the Witness
Protection Agency is underfunded and
doubts about its independence exist. Kenya
has ratified the African Union Convention
on Preventing and Combating Corruption
and the United Nations Convention
against Corruption.
Why Corruption Persists In
Kenya
Why has corruption persisted and
increased over the years despite the
highlighted strength in the legal system?
It is simple: there are people in power
who benefit from it and the existing
governance institutions lack both the will
and capacity to stop them from doing so.
Despite the existence of the Ethics and
Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)
and several other measures that have been
put in place to try to tackle the corruption
problem, Kenya is still classified as one of
the most corrupt States in the world.
The existence, persistence and growth of
corruption in the country is an indication
of things such as governance institutions
and ethics falling apart.