Introduction
Corruption and embezzlement of public resources incidents related to lousy governance continue to hinder Kenya's sustainable development projects. Current anti-corruption policies and institutions mandated to fight economic crime and bribery within the country seem not adequate to address the issue (Onyango, 2019). Graft extents decades of various regimes in the post-colonial Kenyan government, starting from the founding president to the current administration. The 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index places Kenya at the bottom position, ranking 139 out of 176 nations (Adeniran, 2018). Several bribes collected in rural and town centers remain relatively small, but large sums also get swindled, accounting for over 41% of the entire value (Adeniran, 2018). There exist massive mismanagement of resources and corruption cases on a large scale, getting blamed on the recent last two administrations. Despite business changes, many studies indicate that enterprise corruption remains prevalent. Most firms often come across demands for kickbacks and illegal payments to receive services in Kenya, which has raised the cost of operating business in Kenya (Hope Sr, 2020).
The Kenyan public procurement department suffers extensive bribery cases, which remains the primary form of public service corruption. Most major graft scandals in Kenya involves the procurement process (Hope Sr, 2020). The employment of agents to expedite commercial transactions and operations in Kenya poses a risk for organizations and individuals, especially for start-up businesses and at the market entry stage (Hope Sr, 2020). Although positive transformation has occurred over the years, the independent commissions established to fight corruption and prevent misuse of public resources, such as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), have done little to prosecute and recover stolen property. Studies show that nepotism and bribery remain the significant graft scandals in Kenya (Siddiqui, 2019). Besides, ethnicity and tribal politics in Kenya hinders the fight against corruption.
This brief outlines strategies to fight corruption and promote fair use of public resources in Kenya, a developing country in East Africa. It provides essential information on the country's efforts, recent developments, and international input to help the country achieve sustainable development goals through good governance. Most of the proposals in this brief will help the Kenyan government, parliamentarians, state officials, and institutions in charge of anti-corruption policies to execute their duties of preventing corruption and promoting fair use of public resources.
Background Information
Kenya's competitiveness gets hindered by massive corruption and mismanagement of public resources that affect every sector of the economy. Weak institutions and recurrent demands for kickbacks by government officials result in a rise in business costs. Corruption, office abuse, passive and active bribery, and misappropriation of funds remain rampant in Kenya (Onyango, 2019). These economic crimes remain criminalized under Kenya's Bribery Act of 2016 and the Anti-corruption and Economic Crimes Act 2003, supporting the war against the supply-side of corruption (Omar, 2020). Effective strengthening of Kenya's anti-corruption framework remains a challenge due to corrupt and weak public institutions. The EACC estimates that Kenya loses about 608 billion Kenya shillings yearly due to graft (Omar, 2020). The amount lost on corruption accounts for approximately 7.8% of the country's Growth Development Product (GDP) (Singh, 2019). War on economic crime, therefore, remains essential for Kenya's growth and development.
Recent changes in the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) office and that of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) have seen the two-state departments working together to arrest and prosecute high ranking government officials and elected leaders alleged of involvement in corruption. On the 22nd of July, 2019, Kenya's finance minister and his Principle Secretary, among other high-ranking officials, got arrested and prosecuted over Arror and Kimwarer dam corruption scandal involving multibillion shillings (Owiti, 2020). The US government stopped healthcare funding in 2017 due to rampant corruption in Kenya's Ministry of Health. USAID temporarily stopped $21 million financing of Kenyan government state department activities due to misappropriation and widespread corruption (Hope, 2017). Large scale graft scandals happened in Kenya during 2018 in which the nation lost more than 13 billion Kenyan shillings to corruption deals in central government departments. They included Kenya Pipeline Limited Company (KPLC), Kenya National Youth Service (NYS), Kenya National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), Kenya National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), and dubious land deals at the Lands Ministry (Omar, 2020).
Kenya's Auditor General's office also found many inaccuracies and discrepancies in several local and national government departments' financial statements reported on the 30th of June, 2018 (Omar, 2020). Several county governments in the devolved units in Kenya have faced court charges and impeachment in recent years due to office abuse, misappropriation of public funds, and bribery (Owiti, 2020). Also, activists held a nationwide protest demanding a comprehensive disclosure and accountability of the total COVID-19 monies from all sources, such as grants, loans, in-kind support, and donations, after the media reported embezzlement of the funds (Chesoli & Kimosop, 2020). The media exposure and activists actions forced the EACC to investigate other allegations involving Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) on the procurement of medical and equipment supplies.
Governance Systems and Plans Established for Improvement in Kenya
Notwithstanding the widespread corruption scandals in Kenya, the nation has an elaborate anti-corruption law established initially in 1956. Since August 1956, Kenya has had the Prevention of Corruption Act (Cap. 65) that operated until May 2003, succeeded by the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, No. 3 (Onyango, 2019). The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has offered a platform for reporting corruption cases in the public sector and government. Citizens have the opportunity to report graft cases in person, through e-mails, phone calls at the EACC headquarters, at any of the instituted Huduma Centers across the nation (that has decentralized governments services), or any of the several EACC's offices spread across the country (Onyango, 2019). Whistleblowers also have the chance to file cases anonymously. Since its establishment, the commission has recovered approximately 26.65 billion Kenya shillings worth of property and secured over 293 sentences in the corruption courts (Onyango, 2019).
The government also announced that all senior public officials must declare their wealth annually to curtail corruption and encourage integrity and ethics in the civil service. The general wealth declaration has its mandate from the Public Officer Ethics Act of 2003 (Mungai, 2020). Civil servants who fail to adhere to the legislation may receive a one-year imprisonment term or a fine of one million Kenya shillings (Mungai, 2020). The wealth declaration aims to help prevent or detect corrupt activities, promote accountability and transparency, raise public assurance in government, and assess possible conflict of interest (Mungai, 2020). The initiative has helped the EACC arrest corrupt civil servants, particularly in the Kenya police service, which ranks highest in its most corrupt public sector.
The Director of Public Prosecution Office, whose key responsibilities include prosecution of people charged for criminal offenses by investigative agencies and the Kenya Police Service, has, in recent years, helped in the fight against corruption and mismanagement of public resources (Siddiqui, 2019). The new DPP (Noordin Hajji) led new robustness in the war against corruption immediately he got in office in 2018. His motivation and strength made high ranking government officials, including Governors, sitting Cabinet Ministers (CSs), members of parliament (MPs), and Principal Secretaries (PSs), connected to graft scandals, get detained and arraigned on the DPP's instructions (Singh, 2019). The DPP's office also announced new guidelines for prosecutors on managing criminal and corrupt cases that defined the thresholds that prosecuting officials must observe to evaluate whether the case presented passes the public interest, evidence test, or both. The approach could ensure that they could follow corruption cases with convincing conviction outcomes (Onyango, 2019).
The Kenyan Civil society has played a vital role in the fight against graft by putting the government under pressure. Activists usually employ peaceful demonstrations and awareness creation to demand transparency and accountability on public resources. The global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 16 promotes strong institutions and justice as a critical component in a democratic society (Omar, 2020). SDG's target 16.3 and 16.5 intends to advocate for implementing the rule of law both internationally and at the national level and promote equal, universal admission of justice, and considerably minimize bribery and graft (Omar, 2020). The SDGs' intentions align with Kenya's blueprint on crucial economic development agendas. The present government, headed by President Uhuru Kenyatta, availed its development plan termed the Big Four Agenda (Arucy, 2019). Incentives provided by international bodies, such as the European Union, have led to the formulation and execution of anti-corruption policies and increase transparency in promoting good utilization of public resources (Brusca et al., 2018). Multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank and the IMF, monitor and scrutinize budget matters within member states (Brusca et al., 2018).
