The former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has explained how he plans to fightg corruption should he succeed President William Ruto in the 2027 general election.
During an interview on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Matiang’i stated that Kenya[s problem regarding corruption is not the lack of laws but the failure of accountability in public leadership.
“Nothing beats exemplary leadership. We talk more than we do in this country in terms of public leadership,” Matiang’i said.
“The fight against corruption ought to start with the individual leaders at the decision-making table. You cannot tell people to stop doing what you are doing yourself every day,” he added.
Matiang’i stressed that Kenya doesn’t need more laws, commissions, or infrastructure to fight corruption. Instead, he said leaders must stop hiding behind legal loopholes and focus on enforcing the laws that already exist.
“This is something all of us need to do because it is hurting our country, and it is going to destroy the prosperity of our young people, and in my view, you don’t even need to write a new law.”
“We have enough laws; we keep hiding behind the law and setting commissions. We don’t need new infrastructure, commission or law, we just need to live within the law that is in place and implement it,” he said, adding that the constant formation of new commissions only delays real accountability.
He also urged institutions responsible for overseeing public officials to operate independently and avoid political interference.
“We just need to be true to the ideals that the founding fathers of this nation had when they fought for independence and built a straightforward country,” Matiang’i said.
“We also need to have public officials become accountable for what they do; and if the agencies that are tasked with this responsibility to do their work resist politicisation, we would probably get somewhere.”
