Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission CEO Abdi Mohamud has warned that corruption in Kenya continues to rise, with the national average bribe jumping from Sh4,878 in 2024 to Sh6,724,highlighting a growing public concern.
Speaking during the launch of the Kenya National Gender and Corruption Survey 2025, he said the study provides the first gender-disaggregated insights into how corruption affects men and women differently.
“This report moves us beyond generalities to a precise understanding of how gender mediates exposure to and the impact of unethical practices,” Mohamud said.
He emphasized that corruption is not gender-neutral: “For too long, anti-corruption strategies have been designed under the false assumption that corruption is gender neutral. This survey proves it is a systemic issue embedded within gendered structures of inequality and asymmetric power relations.”
The survey highlights that women face disproportionate challenges, particularly through “sextortion”—the demand for sexual favors in exchange for services.
“A critical and painful revelation in this report is the persistence of sextortion. Women are more affected by indirect requests, 9.3% compared to men at 7.4%, particularly young women seeking employment or medical services,” he noted.
Mohamud also pointed out that corruption is most prevalent in law enforcement, licensing, and land administration, which are overwhelmingly male-dominated.
“These high corruption sectors, such as NTSA at 92.9% male dominated and the police at 88.8% male dominated, provide a clear target for our integrity reforms,” he said.
The report also shows that reporting remains extremely low due to fear or lack of secure channels.
“We must break this gap by establishing confidential digital reporting platforms that protect citizens,” Mohamud said, highlighting EACC’s secure online platform and toll-free line 1551 as accessible options for reporting bribery incidents.
To curb corruption, EACC plans to conduct undercover integrity testing and enhanced monitoring in high-bribery sectors, aiming to reduce bribery prevalence by at least 20 percent within six months.
He also stressed the importance of digitizing public service payments: “If all institutions… could equally digitize their processes, I think this is one critical area where we can actually reduce bribery and corruption by a huge margin.”
Mohamud concluded by calling on all stakeholders to join the fight against corruption. “Combating corruption is a collective responsibility that requires continued support of government, civil society, and international partners,” he said, underlining EACC’s commitment to integrating gender-sensitive ethics frameworks in all public institutions.