Six in Ten Kenyan Youth Would Accept Bribes If Undetected, EACC Reveals

Nairobi — A startling revelation about young Kenyans’ willingness to engage in corrupt practices has emerged from the country’s anti-graft watchdog, even as the commission celebrates significant wins in its fight against financial malfeasance.

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Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Executive Officer Abdi Mohamud disclosed on Tuesday that approximately 60 percent of Kenyan youth would participate in bribery if they believed their actions would go undetected—a finding that has sent shockwaves through the country’s governance circles.

The disclosure came during International Anti-Corruption Day commemorations held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, where officials and stakeholders gathered to reflect on the state of ethical governance in Kenya.

The Paradox of Youth Corruption

What makes Mohamud’s revelation particularly troubling is the inherent contradiction it exposes. Young people bear the brunt of corruption’s devastating effects, yet many appear willing to perpetuate the very system that disadvantages them.

The EACC chief did not mince words about this cognitive dissonance. Despite being the demographic most harmed by graft—particularly through inflated costs and gatekeeping in education access, job opportunities, and financial assistance programs—a majority of young respondents indicated they would cross ethical lines when opportunity and anonymity aligned.

This paradox raises uncomfortable questions about institutional trust, moral education, and whether decades of endemic corruption have normalized unethical behavior to the point where it’s viewed as pragmatic rather than problematic.

The Real Cost: Dreams Deferred and Opportunities Denied

Mohamud painted a sobering portrait of how corruption translates into tangible losses for Kenya’s youth. The theft is not abstract—it manifests in concrete, life-altering ways.

When public funds earmarked for healthcare infrastructure disappear into private accounts, when road construction budgets evaporate, when education bursaries fail to materialize, the consequences cascade directly onto young Kenyans. Employment opportunities that should exist vanish before they’re created. Classrooms that should house students remain unbuilt. Loans that should appear in Higher Education Loans Board accounts never arrive.

The cumulative effect is what Mohamud characterized as a daily assault on hope itself. Each act of corruption by a select few strips away the dignity, erodes trust, and undermines the fundamental belief in a meritocratic, equitable Kenya that an entire generation deserves.

Commission Records Major Victories

Against this backdrop of concerning attitudes, the EACC presented evidence of substantive progress in its core mandate. The commission’s newly launched annual report for the 2024-2025 period reveals impressive numbers that demonstrate institutional capacity.

Through proactive intelligence operations and timely interventions, the commission prevented potential losses totaling Ksh 16.5 billion. This represents money that stayed in public coffers, available for its intended purposes rather than lining corrupt pockets.

Perhaps more significantly, successful prosecutions surged dramatically. Convictions jumped from a mere 12 to 33 during the reporting period—a nearly threefold increase that signals both improved investigative capabilities and growing judicial cooperation in bringing corrupt actors to account.

These figures suggest that while the cultural battle against corruption remains challenging, the institutional machinery is becoming more effective.

A Call to Generational Leadership

Despite the alarming statistics about youth attitudes, Mohamud refused to adopt a tone of defeat. Instead, he issued a direct challenge to young Kenyans, reframing them not as the problem but as the essential solution.

His message was clear: the current generation of young people possesses both the energy and the moral authority to break cycles that previous generations failed to dismantle. Rather than accepting corruption as an unchangeable feature of Kenyan life, they can choose to become the architects of a different system.

This appeal to youth agency carries particular weight given the commission’s findings. If 60 percent would engage in corruption given the chance, the corollary is that 40 percent would resist—and potentially more if cultural norms shifted and consequences became certain.

The Path Forward

The simultaneous release of troubling survey data and encouraging enforcement statistics presents Kenya with a moment of reckoning. The country has both the institutional tools to combat corruption and a youth population at an ethical crossroads.

The question now is whether anti-corruption messaging, education, and—critically—the consistent prosecution of offenders can shift the moral calculus for young Kenyans before they enter positions of authority themselves.

As Mohamud’s remarks made clear, this is not merely about punishing wrongdoing. It’s about salvaging the promise of an entire generation and ensuring that merit, rather than money, determines who succeeds in Kenya.

The commission’s record Ksh 16.5 billion in prevented losses proves that intervention works. Whether that institutional success can translate into cultural transformation among the youth remains Kenya’s most pressing governance challenge.

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