The Treasury will start making public the wealth of top State officers, including the President and his deputy after caving in to pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to improve accountability and integrity in government.
The newly published Draft 2025 Budget Policy Statement shows the government has now committed to start the disclosures through a digital system, even though it has not specified the exact timing of the roll out.
The development comes after the IMF poked holes in the country’s draft laws aimed at aligning the asset declaration and conflict of interest legal frameworks with international standards.
The Treasury says corruption, including wastage of public resources, remains a “serious threat” to the realisation of the aspirations of President William Ruto administration’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda and believes wealth disclosures by senior officials will boost governance.
“Going forward, the government is committing to full automation and publication of asset declarations of high-level public officials,” says Treasury.
The move will see the State make public officers’ wealth declaration forms easily accessible to the public seeking information on the income, assets and liabilities of those holding public office.
This will mark a departure from the current practice where public officers declare their wealth but the information contained in the wealth declaration forms remains confidential.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo did not respond to phone calls and text messages when we sought clarification on the expected start date and whether the ministry has developed a system that will support these disclosures.
If the Treasury actualises this, it will lift the lid on the wealth of the President and his entire cabinet, MPs and senators, top county officials, executives of State-owned firms and other senior civil servants — many of whose offices have been flagged in audit reports for failing to account for multibillion-shilling budgets.
The closest Kenyans have come to knowing the worth of such individuals is during the filling of senior positions such as cabinet secretaries, where nominees are obligated to state their wealth during the public vetting process. However, the movement in their wealth during their tenure is not made public.
It is also not clear if the Treasury will be seeking changes to the Access to Information (General) Regulations, 2023 or the Conflict of Interest Bill 2023 to make such disclosures possible.
The access to information regulations provides the procedure for disclosure of information by public entities and private bodies, while the Conflict of Interest Bill, which is before Parliament, prohibits public officers from engaging in activities that conflict with the public interest.
“To manage conflicts arising in the discharge of official duties, the government will fast track enactment of the Conflict of Interests Bill,” says Treasury.
The State has also promised to introduce measures to impose a surcharge on any accounting officer or other public officer who has, by their actions or omissions, occasioned loss of public resources.
