Despite billions in funding, Kenya's watchdogs still struggle to bite

NCIC Chairman. Kepha Nyamweya Omae, flanked by Inter-Religious Council of Kenya Chairperson Sheikh Abdullahi Salat and Evangelical Alliance of Kenya leaders, addresses the Press in Nairobi on July 27, 2026. [Wanyiri Wahito, Standard]

Sixteen years after the 2010 Constitution created a new architecture of independent commissions and offices, Kenya’s accountability institutions face a difficult verdict, they have produced notable investigations, prosecutions and recoveries, but persistent corruption, police abuses, ethnic profiling and political incitement continue to expose deep weaknesses.