Anti-graft playbook: Task forces, counter-reform and illusion of action

It has barely lasted a week, and now it’s already on the back burner.  The reference here is to corruption, and President William Ruto’s repeated claims of a corrupted Parliament. 

He spoke about it for the third time this month at a joint UDA-ODM Parliamentary Group (PG) meeting last week, after earlier mentions at a Presidential Roundtable with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, and the following week’s 9th Devolution Conference.

Expectedly, members of both Houses responded in forked tongues; some seeming to justify the practice of lobbying, others apparently confirming long-held perceptions of the August House as a “legislative ATM” and most of the rest loudly calling on the President to support his allegation with real names of real people 

Basically, last week was pure political theatre, offering far more heat than light.  Of course, we Kenyans are famous for our short memories, so we begin a new week where it’s all forgotten. 

This is an interesting week. We are barely two months into the 2025/26 fiscal year, but budget preparations have begun for 2026/27, which is this Kenya Kwanza administration’s final full budget year. By the way, 2026/27 is the year their manifesto promised would deliver a budget deficit of 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 8-9 per cent when they started, but who’s still counting?  With Monday’s launch of the 2026/27 budget process, your public participation starts right now, not next June. 

Also August 27, 2025 marks 15 years since our 2010 Constitution was promulgated. Today’s tempestuous times offer a great moment to reflect on our gains and losses in this decade and a half; an occasion to consider what’s worked/working and what hasn’t/isn’t. 

But let’s go back to that corruption story today.  Because, barely a day after the President’s PG bombshell, we got a presidential proclamation on the establishment of a multi-agency team (MAT) on the war on corruption. Located in the State Department for Justice, Human Rights and Constitutional Affairs quickly concocted to support new Principal Secretary appointments earlier this year, MAT replaces the ad-hoc Multi-Agency Task Force established by the previous Jubilee administration under the same department this administration had scrapped on assuming office. 

Well, it didn’t take long for MAT’s establishment to be challenged in court, on the argument that its mandate already falls under the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). Without getting into the details of a case that is ongoing, these are eerily similar circumstances to a Task Force appointed in July 2024 to audit our public debt. The argument then was that the debt audit is the Auditor-General’s job. Fast forward from that time and we still have no idea what progress the Auditor-General has made on this audit, yet, on the other hand, the Task Force was to report to the public within three months, by October 2024.  So, today we are basically none the wiser. 

It is in moments like this that the term “counter-reform” – an approach where reform is overtly supported but covertly stifled – comes to mind.  What’s unclear is who the counter-reformer is! 

Even without the ongoing case, response to MAT’s formation is mostly skeptical.  “Waste of time” seems to be a common refrain and that’s before looking at the proclamation’s detail. Some see it as a belated attempt by this administration to build, not rebuild, its governance credentials.  There’s lots of comment – going to the Executive-Parliament accusations – about pots and kettles. 

And in all of this, spare a thought for EACC, who just published a national ethics and corruption survey that has zero mention of Parliament, or politicians, but is happy to double down on police officers, KRA officers, chiefs, lawyers, land surveyors, engineers, bankers, accountants and the like. Does parliament confer a special “herd immunity” when these professionals end up there? 

The fact of the matter is we are still not serious on fighting corruption. Take MAT’s objectives as the current case in point. Enhance cooperation, coordination and collaboration.  Engage other agencies, organs of government and private sector.  Share best practices and approaches.  Develop effective communication strategies.  Engage relevant domestic and international agencies on fighting economic crime, organiSed crime and recovering the proceeds of crime. Oh, and last but not least, identify resource needs for each (MAT) agency. I’m not sure if EACC itself would accept such a wooly mandate.  It reads like an agenda driven by big meetings in air conditioned offices, donor-funded conferences, per-diem earning retreats and a fair portion of DSA-driven international benchmarking study tours.  On the other hand, it sounds like the kind of work effort that could be delivered through monthly or quarterly  Zoom meetings.  Where exactly is the added value that “multi-agency” brings to the war on corruption? 

That MAT is all national government - lacking both “whole of government” and “whole of society” (multi-stakeholder) representation - is a further red flag, even if it is allowed to “engage others”.  Will MAT be turned into an instrument of both “white-wash” and “witch-hunt” at the same time? 

Here’s when we’ll know that this administration is serious about the war on corruption.  It might begin with Page 61 of the Kenya Kwanza manifesto on “Ending State Capture” which, among other things, promised to establish (within 30 days) a quasi-judicial public inquiry to determine the extent of cronyism and State capture in the nation and make recommendations.  In other words, an inquiry into how leaders past and present repurposed the public state to private ends. 

And it isn’t just the manifesto. In a little-mentioned section of the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report, which recommends a Commission of Inquiry on various matters relating to the 2022 election and 2023 cost of living protests, Kenya Kwanza went full throttle in stating their “primary concern (was) that it is important to investigate a series of unfortunate transactions and events of state capture”.

Describing State capture as “a form of invisible violence perpetrated on Kenyans by perverting and extorting governance and public institutions as supported by some distinct private institutions as a network for personal gain” the coalition demanded that several elements be investigated. 

First, the allocation and distribution of State power and resources, directed not for the public good but for private and corrupt advantage.  Second, (the) network of persons outside and inside government acting illegally and unethically in furtherance of State capture.  Third, improper influence over appointments and removals.  Fourth, the manipulation of rules and procedures of decision-making in government in order to facilitate corrupt advantage.  

Fifth, (the) deliberate effort to undermine or render ineffectual oversight bodies and to exploit regulatory weaknesses so as to avoid accountability for wrongdoing.  Sixth, (the) deliberate effort to subvert and weaken law enforcement and intelligence agencies at the commanding levels so as to shield and sustain illicit activities, avoid accountability and disempower opponents.  Seventh, support and acquiescence by powerful actors in the political sphere, including members of the ruling party.  Eighth, the (role and) assistance of professional service providers in the private sphere - advisers, auditors, legal and consulting firms, in protecting and supporting illicit gains.

Here’s an idea. Instead of this endless and fruitless back and forth between the Executive and Parliament, or half-cooked task forces reeking of “counter-reform”, let’s just start with this checklist as the “what”, as we figure out the “whom” to deliver it.  It could get very interesting!