Reforming the ‘Land of the Little Something’: The Challenges and Opportunities of Addressing State Capture in Kenya

Graft remains a ubiquitous, near defining feature of Kenya’s political economy, conditioning security provision, public services, and government bureaucracy. Studies suggest three out of four citizens have witnessed or participated in police corruption, and there is similarly little trust in state institutions or elected officials. Although the 2010 Constitution, and associated roll-out of decentralised county administrations, were designed to mitigate an over-powered executive, the problem has arguably been displaced rather than resolved. Zero-sum competition over political authority – with its coterminous systems of patronage, rent-seeking and criminality – is increasingly evident at a sub-national level. At the same time, efforts to temper corruption have yielded few returns. Despite investment from foreign and domestic stakeholders, numerous technical fixes – new legislation, regulatory frameworks, and oversight bodies like the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission – appear ineffective. A lack of elite disincentives, the normalisation of sleaze, and widespread reliance on clientelism continue to enable state capture, rendering the promotion of accountability and transparency superficial at best. That said there are counter-vailing trends worth examining. The so-called ‘Gen-Z’ demonstrations in June revealed new modes of protest, affiliation, and mass mobilisation outside the conventional patterns of prebendal politics. Additionally, local expressions of ‘civicness’ - or ‘civic minded forms of resistance to corruption or exclusivism’ – may offer further vectors for reform that contradict the transactional logic of Kenya’s political culture and bolster outcomes conducive to the ‘public good’. Consequently, this article will examine both the challenges characterising state capture in Kenya, and emerging opportunities for its amelioration. Drawing on key informant interviews alongside existing literature on Kenya, accountability, and state capture, the authors will contribute to the knowledge on ‘civicness’ and how it intersects with accountability efforts and the dominant politics of graft.