Ruto pressed to release IMF graft report as billions lost to corruption

President William Ruto meets IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington, DC, in December 2025. [Courtesy]

Pressure is mounting on President William Ruto to publish a long-delayed International Monetary Fund (IMF) governance and anti-corruption report, after a World Bank study estimated that graft costs Kenya about two per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) annually.

This suggests the country could borrow significantly less if corruption were curbed and the funds could instead improve the lives of ordinary Kenyans.

The World Bank’s 34th Kenya Economic Update, released last week, found that corruption and collusion widen the country’s fiscal deficit by roughly two percentage points of GDP each year, through weakened revenue collection and inflated public spending.

The report also noted that 39 per cent of firms now consider corruption a major constraint to doing business, up from 25 per cent in 2013, and that medium-sized firms are the most heavily targeted.

The earlier IMF report was commissioned after the deadly 2024 Gen Z protests over proposed tax hikes, when Kenyans demanded accountability and responsible management of public resources.

It assesses systemic vulnerabilities in public procurement, tax administration, state-owned enterprises, and anti-money laundering measures.

The government received the final version of the IMF report in June 2026, but it has not been made public.

IMF officials have said publication requires the Kenyan authorities' consent, and that a new fund-supported programme cannot be finalised until Nairobi formally responds to the diagnostic and presents a credible path toward fiscal consolidation.

The cash-strapped Ruto administration is hoping for a breakthrough in early December when an IMF mission visits Nairobi for Article IV consultations, but the unresolved graft concerns are likely to delay any final agreement on a new lending programme.

"The 2024 protest by Kenyans that motivated this diagnostic must not be rewarded with findings shrouded in secrecy," the Okoa Uchumi Campaign, a local accountability lobby, said in a statement.

"Kenyans cannot continue financing diagnostics, commissioning investigations and holding public consultations only for findings and recommendations to be hidden from citizens. We demand the immediate public release of the final IMF Governance and Anti-Corruption Diagnostic Report, its formal tabling before Parliament, and a clear government roadmap, with timelines, for implementing its recommendations."

The campaign represents a coalition of 50 civil society organisations, including Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG), Amnesty International Kenya, Bunge Mashinani Initiative, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the National Integrity Alliance, the Institute for Social Accountability (TISA), and Transparency International Kenya.

It is demanding a different social contract anchored in transparency, accountability, and the prudent management of public resources, warning that "Kenya's future must not be built behind closed doors."

The IMF's assessment echoes a newly published report by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which shows corruption remains widespread in government offices.

The EACC data indicates that the average bribe size across a range of administrative services is Sh6,724, with citizens facing frequent demands for illicit payments to access services such as business licensing, medical care, and tax administration.

The report also found that 78.7 per cent of respondents say ordinary citizens risk retaliation if they report incidents of corruption.

A scathing review from the Trump administration earlier this year also added to the pressure.

In its annual National Trade Estimate Report, the Office of the United States Trade Representative said corruption "remains a substantial barrier to trade and investment in Kenya," with American firms reporting "direct and indirect requests for bribes from multiple levels of the Kenyan Government."

Kenya forfeited roughly Sh109.7 billion when its previous IMF programme ended early in 2025 after the government failed to meet fiscal targets.

A subsequent World Bank loan of about Sh96.9 billion has also been held up by delays in passing key governance and policy reforms.

The financing squeeze has forced Nairobi to rely heavily on domestic borrowing to fund a record Sh4.79 trillion budget for the 2026/27 fiscal year, driving up interest costs and crowding out private sector credit.

Public debt has crossed the Sh13 trillion mark, with debt service consuming more than a quarter of the national budget.

The World Bank estimates that bringing Kenya's control of corruption in line with peers such as Ethiopia or India could expand GDP by more than 13 per cent by 2035 and create nearly 3 million additional jobs, while reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio by up to 8 percentage points.

Ambitious reforms could boost GDP by more than 20 per cent and generate up to 7.7 million jobs.

With Ruto expected to seek re-election in August 2027, corruption is likely to feature prominently on the campaign trail as the Opposition seizes on the unreleased report and the World Bank's findings to question the government's accountability.

Publishing a detailed governance report that names systemic vulnerabilities could expose senior officials, while withholding it risks prolonging the freeze on multilateral financing.

"The ball is now firmly in Kenya's court on governance reforms," a government official familiar with the situation, requesting anonymity, said. "The IMF has made it clear that a credible anti-corruption plan is the price of admission for further funding."

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