Billions Stolen Daily as Corruption Deepens Debt Crisis in Kenya

By Fatuma Chesang’

Kenya is losing trillions of shillings in foreign loans and aid to corruption, leaving taxpayers burdened with debts that fail to translate into development, human rights activist Dr. Isaac Newton Kinity has warned.

Dr. Kinity said the theft of public funds has reached “senseless and abnormal” levels, with most of the looted money drawn from borrowed funds at high interest rates.

“Kenya loses at least Sh2 billion every day, about Sh1 trillion annually and nearly Sh5 trillion in a single presidential term,” he said, adding the figure may have risen under the current administration.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta once admitted Sh2 billion was being stolen daily, a claim recently repeated by President William Ruto’s Finance Minister, John Mbadi.

Dr. Kinity said such funds could create jobs for millions of unemployed youth, raise the meagre wages of workers including members of the KDF, or improve hospitals and schools.

“Instead, it ends up in the hands of a few individuals,” he said in a statement to newsrooms.

The activist, who also chairs the Kikimo Foundation for Corruption and Poverty Eradication, said the scandal extends beyond Kenya, affecting donor countries such as the United States.

He argued that every dollar lost to graft in Kenya is also a loss to American taxpayers, citing it as the reason U.S. President Donald Trump cut aid to “corrupt nations.” Earlier this year, hundreds of contractors working for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were put on unpaid leave or dismissed after Trump imposed a global freeze on foreign aid.

Analysts warn unchecked corruption is worsening Kenya’s debt crisis and straining relations with donors. For ordinary citizens, it means poverty, unemployment, and broken promises.

At the same time, Dr. Kinity praised the U.S. for keeping open its Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which benefits citizens from more than 170 countries, even as it tightens scrutiny on aid and immigration.

He also linked the crisis to domestic scandals, pointing to the alleged Ndabibi land grab in Naivasha, where thousands of elderly residents were reportedly displaced. He urged President Ruto to act against those involved.

“How can a government be silent when people who have lived on land since birth are being displaced and charged with trespass? These Kenyans are too old to work anywhere else. Taking their land is heartless,” he said, warning he would escalate the matter to President Trump.