Thousands of civil servants could soon face salary freezes, disciplinary action and enhanced scrutiny of their family finances.
This follows new anti-corruption rules proposed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
The measures, drafted to operationalise the Conflict of Interest Act, 2025, set wealth declaration requirements for state and public officers.
It would be extended to their spouses, children and assets held abroad once officially gazetted.
The proposals, which EACC has submitted for public participation, affect officers across ministries, county governments, state corporations and independent commissions.
The framework empowers responsible commissions to crack down on officers who fail to file declarations within the prescribed timelines.
Authorities will have powers to stop salaries for non-compliant civil servants until they align.
Besides losing salaries, officers who fail to declare wealth could face disciplinary proceedings – after being served with a notice and prior warning.
At the moment, there are no express measures for public institutions to rein in on secret wealth, unless the subjects are before court.
In the proposed dispensation, the scope of wealth declarations will extend beyond the assets directly owned by public officers.
Going forward, civil servants would be required to disclose the finances of their spouses, including those they have since separated.
“A public officer who is separated from his or her spouse or spouses is required to submit a declaration for the separated spouse or spouses, in so far as they can reasonably ascertain the income, assets and liabilities of the spouse."
This presents difficult personal situations, particularly where divorce proceedings are contentious or communication between former partners has broken down.
The concerned officers will have to seek financial information from an estranged spouse in order to comply with the law.
The EACC proposals also cast a wider net over wealth held by civil servants but are outside the country.
The draft rules state that ‘any income, assets and liabilities that a public officer may have outside Kenya, should be declared.’
Foreign bank accounts, overseas investments, business interests and properties held abroad could therefore become subject to scrutiny under the new disclosure regime.
"Any income, assets and liabilities that a public officer holds jointly with any other person or entity should be declared."
EACC wants the officers to state the extent of interest or share that is attributable to them in such joint ventures.
The declaration requirements will apply even to officers who are not actively at work.
“The obligation to make a declaration applies to all state and public officers including those on leave, under disciplinary action, secondment and overseas assignments,” the rules say.
The only exception will if granted by the Attorney General through a gazette notice.
Households where both spouses are public officers will be required to submit a separate declaration for the spouse.
This would be notwithstanding the fact that the spouse shall also make a declaration to his or her responsible commission.
Each spouse will thus appear twice in the declaration system, that is, their own declaration, and the declaration submitted by their husband or wife.
The rules are intended to support implementation of the Conflict of Interest Act, 2025, which President William Ruto signed into law last year.
The law expanded the list of officials subject to conflict of interest provisions and wealth declarations by bringing previously exempt offices under the framework.
EACC led by chairman David Oginde is also pushing for automation of the declaration process through digital systems.
The aim is to detect inconsistencies and possible concealment of assets, and ‘flag out possible issues of conflict of interest.’
The systems will also interconnect with other information systems and databases that have information relevant to analyse a declaration.
This could pave the way for declarations to be cross-checked against land ownership records, company registries, vehicle databases and tax information.
The rules further recognise electronic declarations as legally valid even without physical signatures or acknowledgement slips.
Beyond wealth declarations, the regulations tighten rules governing conflicts of interest in public decision-making.
The EACC says a conflict may be declared ‘prior to a discussion, decision, debate or vote’ or immediately an officer becomes aware of a conflict during deliberations.
Once a conflict is declared, the officer must step aside from the process.
The rules provide that recusal may involve not physically attending, or physically removing oneself from the discussion, decision, debate or vote.
Affected officers would be required to refrain from participating in discussions or abstain from voting altogether.
Such recusals will be reported to the EACC within 60 days, including particulars of the conflict and how the officer stepped aside.
INSTANT ANALYSIS
For thousands of public officers, the annual declaration exercise may soon involve much more than listing personal bank accounts and parcels of land.
