Widespread Corruption And Poor Financial Management

A new report raises concerns about widespread corruption and poor financial management amid a weakening economy. The report, by the Africa Centre for Open Governance (Africog) and partners Okoa Uchumi, outlines a pattern of manipulated policies, mismanaged loans, and opaque large-scale projects, all linked to high-ranking government officials. It includes an admission by former Attorney General Justin Muturi that he was pressured to approve loans irregularly. "This is not just financial mismanagement. It is a system designed to plunder public funds through the state apparatus," the report states. Corruption and poor financial management are deeply rooted in Kenya and significantly impact the country's economic development. It is estimated that approximately one-third of the annual government budget is lost to corruption, placing a significant strain on public finances and leading to mounting debt. Corruption occurs both at low levels (e.g., bribery of government officials) and on a large scale, for example, through manipulated budgets, tax evasion, and public procurement involving high-ranking politicians. The judiciary is considered a hotbed of corruption, with reports of bribery of judges and manipulation of proceedings. Despite some high-profile convictions of public officials, combating corruption remains a major challenge due to the resilience of the structures and significant systemic gaps. Financial management is characterized by poor planning, overbudgeting, and fraudulent offenses such as "ghost schools" (ghost schools are educational institutions that exist only on paper, in official records, or as physical buildings with no real educational activity taking place. These schools often have zero or very few students enrolled, no teachers present, or may not even be constructed at all despite being reported as operational) or the disappearance of funds from public accounts. The government is attempting to counteract this with new laws and expedited court proceedings, but progress has been limited so far. Transparency International ranks Kenya 126th out of 180 countries in its Corruption Perceptions Index, and the World Bank gives Kenya a control score of only 24 percent in the "Control of Corruption" category. The younger generation is increasingly protesting these abuses and demanding greater transparency and accountability. @https://thecradle.co/articles/turkiye-confirms-talks-with-israel-over-syria-deconfliction-mechanism @https://theshillongtimes.com/2025/01/20/on-ghost-schools @https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/what-are-ghost-students-perfcon @https://www.innovapath.us/index.php/IN/article/view @https://www.citizen.digital/news/how-education-ministry-official-created-ghost-secondary-school-pocketed-ksh11m-from-govt-n288095