IMF launches probe into Kenya’s corruption issues
Prime Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi (right) meeting Rebecca A. Sparkman, IMF’s Deputy Division Chief and other top officials at the launch of the IMF Governance Diagnostic Assessment Scoping Mission for Kenya
The International Monetary Fund has started a review of Kenya's corruption and governance issues, as the multilateral lender moves to check on escalating graft practices within the country.
According to Prime Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi, IMF findings aim at enabling the government to roll out key reforms in governance and support implementation of priority growth projects.
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In a statement by Mr. Mudavadi shortly after meeting Rebecca A. Sparkman, deputy division chief at the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF, the CS lauded the Bretton Woods institution for accepting Nairobi's request for "Governance Diagnostic Assessment."
"I encouraged the IMF team to connect with key stakeholders across national and county governments, the Judiciary, Parliament, private sector, civil society, and faith-based organizations for a comprehensive approach," stated CS Mudavadi, adding that the exercise is set to start with a scoping mission and then a full assessment later in the year.
IMF's Sparkman noted that the scoping exercise aims at examining corruption vulnerabilities in six core areas: fiscal governance, central bank governance and operations, financial sector oversight, market regulation, rule of law, and anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing.
The entry of the IMF officials to investigate matters corruption in Kenya follows increasing pressure on President William Ruto to tackle corruption at the instigation of the country's youth, popularly known as Gen Z.
Mid last year, Gen Z revolted against the government demanding accountability, a push that saw Dr. Ruto offer to make changes to the relevant law in July 2024 to seal the challenges that threaten the fight against corruption.
Back then, the president noted that the looming changes are aimed at cracking down on officials implicated in corruption, those displaying largesse and opulence as well as measures to tackle wastage in government spending.
Already, the Bretton Woods institution has called on Kenya to tackle budgetary and economic challenges following taxation reforms that sparked mass protests in June 2024.
