True Story – One evening, person (X) whose name I will not disclose for security reasons, was riding a motorbike in Nairobi’s Kayole Estate, a residential area largely occupied by the middle income earners. Upon spotting his evidently new humongous sports bike, two patrol officers, one riding a motorbike and the other a pillion, recklessly crossed the road to the side where the victim had parked and ordered him to provide registration.
Before he could furnish them with a license and registration from his phone, the two officers insisted that they needed physical papers or that they would instantly issue a cash bail of KES 5000, a typical manifestation of corruption in the form of extortion.
If you fail to pay the so-called “cash bail”, they waste your time by forcing you to accompany them on their patrol the whole night.
The most interesting bit is that these police officers didn’t accept mobile transactions. The victim had to hand over his key and rushed to withdraw cash to give to the police officers. It is a way of covering traces of evidence of their economic crimes. To date, the victim knows the faces of these two officers and even meet with them quite often, but with no evidence of their extortion, he can not lodge a successful legal complaint.
Such are the ordeals that millions of Kenyans face everyday in the hands of corrupt government officials.
It is the same trend in major roads in Nairobi, particularly Kangundo and Jogoo road, where traffic police pocket thousands of shillings from the public transportation sectors. Not just Kenya, African nations grapple with corruption everyday.
For decades, Africa’s developmental potential has been held hostage due to unethical socioeconomic practices. The illicit financial flows represent one of the continent’s most devastating economic hurdles, with an estimated USD 88.6 billion—equivalent to 3.7% of the continent’s GDP—leaving the region annually through corruption, tax evasion, and related illicit practices. These staggering losses deprive African nations of critical resources needed for development. The result is the regional underdevelopment and dependency on the western economies.
In Kenya, corruption stunts economic growth, drives high public debt and degrades public services like education and healthcare. Over KES 200 billion, roughly 7.8% of GDP, is lost annually.
“This is a worrying trend that is emerging in the gender dimension of corruption. Whereas at lower levels, women are victims of corruption, women are increasingly becoming drivers and facilitators of mega corruption”, said Bishop Dr David Oginde, the chairperson, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), during the launch of the Kenya National Gender and Corruption Survey, 2025, in Nairobi Kenya.
Kenya National Gender and Corruption Survey
The 2025 Kenya National Gender and Corruption Survey, released on 9/04/2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, showed a heightened level of corruption cases majorly perpetrated by women. This survey which was undertaken through a collaborative partnership involving the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) under the Programme for Legal Empowerment and Aid Delivery (PLEAD II), the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC), Transparency International Kenya (TI-Kenya) and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) highlighted how corruption has become a gatekeeper in public institutions, a vice that has adversely impacted the public delivery.
The report recorded a surge in the National average bribe by 38% between 2024 and 2025. The bribery cost spiraled to KES 6724 in 2025 from KES 4878 in 2024. The report indicated that 84.3% of bribes are paid before services are rendered, making corruption a necessity for service.
The 2025’s gendered corruption report placed the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in the radar as part of the profiteers of the vice they (The CJS) ought to eliminate. NTSA recorded a whooping 92.9% of males engaging in corrupt dealings, prosecutors were male-dominated with a worrying figure of 92.3%, and the policing department was as well male-dominated at 89.8%.
The largest average cash bribe was paid to magistrates at the court at KES 164,367, while the lowest amount of average cash bribe (KES 1,415) was paid to civil registration officials. Doctors in the private sector received the largest average bribe of KES 5,164, followed by teachers (KES.5,020), and nurses (KES.3,366)
The report showed that the male gender is highly targeted by law enforcement, particularly the police and NTSA officers. 31.6% of males reported that bribes are frequently demanded from them by police officers, while 12.9% of males confessed to a continued bribery demand from the NTSA officers.
Women complained of an unrelenting exploitation whenever they are seeking public services, with 30.8% disclosing that they paid bribes to Civil Registration Officials to obtain essential documents such as birth and death certificates.
Still on women, sextortion, an alleged price for moving up the ladder in the white-collar sector, formed part of the vices reported in the Kenya National Gender and Corruption Survey, 2025. 3.4% of women confessed to having received direct requests for sexual favours, while 9.3% reported indirect requests compared to 7.4% of men.
The report noted the vulnerability of female job seekers in the private sector vitalized sextortion which stood at 49.8%.
The public perception of corruption increased to 74.2% in 2025 from 67.9% in 2024. Cash remains the dominant form of bribery at 72.2%, followed by mobile money transfers at 10.5%. Rural residents pay cash bribes at a rate of 77.3% compared to 65.5% for urban residents. On the other hand, men pay cash bribes at 78.8% compared to 63.1% for women.
Citizens reported paying bribes primarily to speed up procedures 32.1 %, because it was the only way to access services 27.8 %, and to avoid problems with authorities 12.2 %.
Birth certificate applications attracted the most frequent bribery (23.0 %), followed by securing release from detention 19.2 %, medical services 12.8 %, National Identification (ID) 12.3 %, and public utilities 10.0 %. The highest bribe amounts are attached to seeking government employment, KES 85,033, obtaining government contracts, KES 24,020, and passport services, KES 12,514.
Corruption and Bribery Report Per County
Kakamega County was ranked the highest at KES 79,305, driven primarily by bribes to judicial officers. West Pokot (KES 16,400), Isiolo (KES 13,912), Vihiga (KES 12,389), and Garissa (KES 12,297) follow. The least average bribes were recorded in Kitui (2,168), Siaya (2,155), Nyamira (KES 1655), Kilifi (1,559) and Baringo (KES 1,314) counties.
Why Victims Fail to Report
With the criminal justice system involved in the vice, most cases of corruption went unreported, the report indicated. 33.4% of Kenyans failed to report corruption cases perpetrated against them and on their watch on the grounds that it was a “useless” move and that nothing would be done by the authorities.
The Non-reporting rate of corruption was 98.6%, with only 1.4% of Kenyans reporting their ordeals to the relevant authorities. The report stated that 10.7% of males considered reporting bribery cases, while 6.9% of females considered reporting to EACC.
Solution to Bribery and Corruption
Launch Targeted Operations: The report proposed the deployment of undercover integrity testing in bribery hotspots like civil registration, police, NTSA and land registries.
Establish Anonymous Reporting: The report proposed the creation of a secure digital platform for reporting bribery and sextortion without fear of retaliation.
The report emphasised the need to train supervisors to easily recognise signs of sexual exploitation and provide victims with psychological and legal support.
Lastly, the elimination of cash transactions and replacing them with electronic payments in the civil registration offices.
