Public officers who fail to declare their wealth will have their salaries withheld until they comply under proposed conflict of interest regulations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in a fresh attempt to enhance transparency in the public sector.
Under the proposed administrative mechanisms, public servants and State officers who fail to file their mandatory wealth declarations every two years within the prescribed period will have their salaries frozen until they comply.
Salary stoppage is one of the administrative mechanisms intended to operationalise Part IV of the Conflict of Interest Act, which governs the declaration of wealth by State and public officers.
The Conflict of Interest Act, which came into force in August 2025 following reforms backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, seeks to strengthen integrity, prevent conflict of interest and improve accountability in public service.
The commission may also issue compliance notices, warnings and institute disciplinary proceedings, marking one of the toughest administrative sanctions yet aimed at compelling public officers to account for their wealth.
The administrative sanctions against public officers who fail to declare their wealth add to the existing legal option of prosecution, with those found guilty facing up to a year in jail, Sh1 million fine or both.
Currently, public officers are required to declare the income, assets and liabilities of themselves, their spouses and dependent children every two years as well as within 30 days of assuming or leaving office.
They are also required to disclose assets held abroad and jointly owned property, clearly indicating their respective interests.
Some of Kenya’s biggest unexplained wealth cases have involved relatively junior public officers whose fortunes were disproportionate to their official salaries.
Among them is former Kenya Rural Roads Authority regional manager Benson Muteti Musila, whom the EACC accused of amassing assets worth more than Sh1 billion, including dozens of parcels of land, bank deposits and businesses allegedly acquired through kickbacks from contractors.
In another case, the anti-graft agency moved to recover more than Sh1.2 billion in assets from Ministry of Lands valuer Nicholas Owino Ochiel, alleging he amassed vast land holdings, houses and cash that could not be explained by his known income.
Investigators said some of Mr Ochiel’s wealth was concealed through relatives and associated companies.
Detectives have repeatedly told courts that illicit wealth is often concealed through spouses, children, relatives, associates and shell companies, with some assets transferred to offshore jurisdictions to frustrate recovery efforts.
The declaration of income, assets and liabilities is therefore intended to help investigators identify unexplained increases in wealth, detect conflict of interest and establish whether public officers are using family members or third parties to conceal assets.
Under the repealed Public Officer Ethics Act, failure to submit a declaration or knowingly filing false information constituted a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to Sh1 million, imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
The new administrative mechanisms introduce salary stoppages and disciplinary sanctions to strengthen compliance before criminal prosecution is pursued.
Kenya introduced mandatory wealth declarations for public officers in 2003 through the Public Officer Ethics Act, one of the country’s earliest anti-corruption laws enacted during President Mwai Kibaki’s administration.
The law initially required annual declarations before it was amended to require declarations every two years, a framework that has now been retained and strengthened under the Conflict of Interest Act.
For most Kenyans, the rare moments when they get a glimpse into the wealth of senior public officials are during parliamentary vetting of nominees for Cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and heads of State agencies, who are required to publicly disclose the value of their assets before National Assembly committees.
Outside those hearings, wealth declarations remain confidential, with access tightly controlled under the law.
The tougher enforcement measures come against the backdrop of a string of unexplained wealth cases in which public officers accumulated vast fortunes that investigators later linked to the plunder of public resources.
In recent years, the EACC and the Asset Recovery Agency have secured court orders requiring public officials to forfeit billions of shillings worth of cash, land, luxury homes and other assets after finding they could not be explained by their legitimate income.
The EACC says it recovered Sh2.9 billion in unexplained wealth and corruptly acquired assets in the 2023/24 financial year while also preventing the loss of another Sh2.9 billion through investigations.
Corruption continues to exact a heavy toll on the Kenyan economy, with the EACC estimating that it costs the country about Sh608 billion annually, equivalent to around 7.8 percent of GDP, through procurement fraud, bribery, tax evasion and theft of public resources.
The anti-corruption watchdog says the losses undermine service delivery, increase the cost of doing business and constrain economic growth.
Besides introducing salary stoppages, the proposed administrative mechanisms require public officers to declare all income, assets and liabilities held in Kenya and abroad, including those jointly owned with other persons or entities.
Officers will also be required to disclose assets held outside the country, jointly owned property and any material changes in their wealth.
The declarations must also cover spouses, separated spouses—to the extent reasonably ascertainable—and dependent children under the age of 18.
The enactment of the Conflict of Interest Act formed part of Kenya’s governance reform commitments under financing programmes supported by the IMF and the World Bank.
Both institutions have for years pushed Kenya to strengthen anti-corruption safeguards, improve transparency in public office and enhance accountability as part of broader reforms aimed at improving public financial management and the business environment.
The two institutions have also advocated public access to wealth declarations, arguing that it would enable whistleblowers with knowledge of hidden properties or undeclared assets to alert investigators and strengthen public oversight of unexplained wealth.
