EACC pushes for digital payments, undercover Ops in bid to dismantle 'corrupt gatekeepers'

EACC Chief Executive Officer Mr. Abdi A. Mohamud./HANDOUT

A landmark national survey has revealed a deeply entrenched "pay-to-play" culture in Kenya’s public service, with approximately 84% of bribes being paid before citizens receive any services.

The Kenya National Gender and Corruption Survey (NGCS) 2025, published by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), warns that corruption has become a systemic gatekeeper, particularly in law enforcement, licensing, and land administration.

The survey adopted a cross-sectional mixed-methods design, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, with data collected at a single point in time from Kenyan adults aged 18 and above using CAPI on CSPro-enabled tablets, complemented by 20 Focus Group Discussions across 10 counties.

Seven key informant interviews and secondary data, while a two-stage stratified cluster sampling design based on the Kenya Household Master Sample Frame produced a nationally representative sample of 22,005 households, with data cleaned, validated, and triangulated to support gender-disaggregated analysis.

A gendered crisis

The report highlights that corruption is not gender-neutral, finding that gender plays a critical role in shaping how Kenyans experience unethical practices.

While men are more frequently involved in monetary bribery, women face a disproportionate risk of sextortion—coercive demands for sexual favours—especially when seeking access to education, healthcare, and employment.

Women entrepreneurs also reported unique barriers, including being forced to navigate both financial and sexual demands to secure business opportunities.

The EACC notes that economic dependence often restricts a woman's ability to resist or report these unethical demands.

The reporting gap:

Despite high awareness of anti-corruption agencies like the EACC and the Judiciary, a staggering 92% of bribery incidents go unreported.

Only 8% of victims come forward, citing a fear of reprisal, a deep-seated mistrust of institutions, and the "normalisation" of corruption as a social coping mechanism.

The survey further identified regional disparities: urban centers like Nairobi, Kisumu, and Kakamega recorded higher average bribe amounts compared to rural counties.

Urgent policy recommendations

To dismantle these "corrupt gatekeepers", the EACC has proposed a series of immediate and structural reforms:

1. Targeted "Undercover" operations: The Commission recommends launching targeted anti-corruption operations in high-bribery sectors, including the National Police Service, NTSA, and land registries.

This includes deploying undercover integrity testing and establishing a dedicated task force to investigate judicial bribery, specifically in Kakamega County.

2. Digitisation of service payments to eliminate cash-based extortion: The report mandates that fees for high-corruption services—such as National IDs, birth certificates, passports, and court processes—must be paid electronically to create a traceable audit trail.

3. Anonymous reporting & sextortion protocols: The EACC is calling for the creation of secure, digital reporting platforms accessible via USSD codes for non-smartphone users. Additionally, the report demands the implementation of emergency sextortion intervention protocols, training supervisors to recognise signs of sexual coercion and linking victims to legal and psychological support.

4. Expanding EACC reach to address "severe access disparities", the report recommends establishing mobile service units in underserved areas like Turkana, West Pokot, and Garissa, where awareness of anti-corruption services remains low.

The Commission emphasises that these recommendations are essential for building a culture of integrity and ensuring that public services are accessible to all Kenyans, regardless of gender or socio-economic status.