By Karen Koech

The Kenya’s Corruption Journey | A 10 Year Audit On Provisions In The Constitution On Leadership And Integrity In Curbing Graft

Kenya has been waging war against corruption since it become an independent state. Almost every socio-economic challenge grappled by Kenyans can be linked to the corruption menace. Graft had been an ill in the Kenyan society during Mzee Kenyatta’s presidency where corruption was isolated and only those close to the executive arm got a piece of the illicit cake. Since then, corruption has morphed and permeated a majority of institutions beyond the executive arm. It is for this reason that in 2010, when Kenyans got the opportunity to revise its laws, corruption featured as one of the main issues it sought to combat. It is now ten years since its promulgation, was it successful in eliminating the vice? This article seeks to analyze Kenya’s ‘corruption journey’ in a view to assess whether or not the Constitution in its ten years of existence, has made any strides in tackling this ill.

The first ever public corruption scandal in Kenya was in 1965, less than three years after independence. It was famously known as the Ngei Maize Scandal. Paul Ngei, the Minister of Marketing and Cooperatives then was accused of meddling with the Maize Marketing Board and smuggling the crop occasioning a shortage in the country.

Coffee smuggling and poaching during the tenure of the first president further contributed to the bleeding economy then. It was during Kenyatta’s regime that civil servants were allowed to operate personal businesses to supplement their income. This served to entrench corruption further into the economy. The reign of President Moi put a rubber stamp of approval to corruption in Kenya as the economy was severally ran down by corruption scandals. Kenya made it to Transparency International’s list of the top five most corrupt countries in the world 1998. The Turkwel Gorge Hydroelectric Power Scandal and the infamous Goldenberg Scandal, which reportedly cost Kenya 10% of its GDP, tainted the Moi era.

The Goldenberg Scandal broke out during the first years of President Kibaki’s reign which seemingly made an effort to get into the bottom of the scandal by launching a commission of inquiry to probe the matter. In Dec 2002, just after being elected into office President Kibaki made the following remarks on corruption: “Corruption will now cease to be a way of life in Kenya and I call upon all those members of my government and public officers accustomed to corrupt practice to know and clearly understand that there will be no sacred cows under m government.”

Ironically, shortly afterwards in 2003, the Anglo-Leasing Corruption Scandal broke off under Kibaki’s watch. It became clear that corruption in Kenya was still deeply engrained and a few political and institutional changes could not grapple with it.

Consequently, the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution saw the inclusion of a plethora of provisions on social justice, integrity, accountability and transparency in governance. Again, in November 2010, just after promulgation, Kibaki once again condemned corruption stating: “…Those who want to continue working on ways to steal public money should go home and let new crop of professionals to develop the country.”

Clearly, like in many other areas of life, the Kenyan citizenry hoped that the new Constitution would be the saving grace against the thorn in the flesh that corruption had become. This is not to say that laws and institutions were not already in place to fight corruption before 2010. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) were in existence. However, given the extent in which corruption had spread in the Kenyan society, more needed to be done.

The most substantive constitutional provision on corruption is Chapter Six on leadership and integrity. The provisions under this chapter were specifically put in place to address the issue of corruption in the country. The chapter contains stipulations on the responsibilities of leadership, conduct and financial probity of state officers, restriction on activities of state officers, among others.

Further, the law includes good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability among the national values and principles of governance. In addition, the values and principles of public service provided for in the Constitution include high standards of professional ethics; efficient, effective and economic use of resources; and accountability of administrative acts. Further, to supplement the already existing legislations: Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (2003), The Public Officers Ethics Act (2003), Public Procurement and Disposal Act (2005), Proceeds of Crimes and Anti-money Laundering Act (2009), the Constitution established the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act in 2011 to operationalize the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. This Commission replaced the KACC. Further, in 2012, the Leadership and Integrity Act was enacted.

With the elaborate legal and institutional framework in place to counter corruption, coupled with a new political regime in 2013, Kenyans were hopeful that the stink of corruption would finally be a thing of the past. However, ironically, this new regime, to the disappointment of Kenyans, has been the most corrupt administration in the history of the country despite having the most intricate agencies and adequate resource allocation for fighting corruption. Since 2013, the media has covered over forty corruption scandals. This goes to show that in terms on corruption, the country is getting worse.

The mega corruption scandals since 2013 include the Eurobond Scandal, the National Youth Service Scandal, the Arror and Kimwarer Dams Scandal, the Waluke Maize Scandal, Obado Corruption Scandal, the recent KEMSA mismanagement of COVID-19 funds among others.

Clearly, grand corruption has become more pervasive in the country despite the constitutional provisions curbing the same.

Notably, in spite of the high numbers of corruption cases in Kenya, more effort is currently being made by certain bodies such as the Office of the Auditor General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary to bring the suspected culprits to book. Unlike the other eras where no one was ever charged and whistleblowers feared for their lives as the freedom of media and expression were limited by the government, recently, there have been a few who have been charged with corruption.

For instance, Henry Rotich become the first Minister in office to be arrested and charged with corruption following the Arror and Kimwarer Dams Scandal. Also, Sirisia Member of Parliament, John Waluke was arrested, charged and sentenced over his involvement in a corruption scandal. In addition, several holders of public office have been held accountable through impeachment processes due to allegations of abuse of public resources. Case in point is the case of Migori Governor, Obado whose looming impeachment was occasioned by corruption allegations.

As it stands, corruption is a menace that is deeply rooted in the Kenyan society despite the laws, institutions and offices established to deal with the vice. From independence to date, news headlines from time to time have covered major corruption scandals, sometimes simultaneously.

The advent of the Constitution and its extensive provisions requiring accountability and transparency in the management of public funds and integrity among leaders, has unfortunately not changed the situation. Corruption is very much still rampant within the national government and found its way to the county governments. We can however not turn a blind eye to the efforts being made to bring perpetrators to book. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary have taken up the mantle, despite the challenges in political good will, in the fight against corruption in the country. These are nevertheless curative and not preventive measures, revealing the claws of the corruption rot in Kenya are still deeply clenched. The role of constitutional implementation is one that should be borne by every citizen.

Therefore, ensuring that the constitutional provisions on corruption are followed to the letter is the responsibility of all Kenyans. Different stakeholders, led by those already taking up the role, should collaborate in an effort to put an end to the evil that is corruption in Kenya.

Karen is a Researcher and Development associate at The Youth Cafe.

The Youth Café, has partnered severally with other organizations in projects and programmes on governance and inclusivity seeking to engage the youth in conversations on good governance, the fight against corruption and the closing civic spaces. 

Reach out to The Youth Café for any comments and potential collaborations as we strive to end the menace of corruption in Kenya.