June 20, 2025 • 13 mins
A year since deadly protests against the Kenyan government saw more than 60 people killed, Kenyans are again taking to the streets to protest police brutality.
These protests, triggered by the death of a kenyan activist in police custody, come as the IMF arrive in the country to assess Kenya's attempts to tackle corruption.
On this week’s episode East Africa Bureau Chief Helen Nyambura joins Jennifer Zabasajja to discuss what’s behind these new protests, and whether President Ruto can actually tackle corruption and do a deal with the IMF to turn the economy around.
For more stories from the region, subscribe to the Next Africa newsletter here
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. An IMF team is
in Kenya to assess the impact of corruption as the
country continues to face protests against alleged police violence. A
(00:32):
year after deadly protests against tax rises and flagrant corruption.
Can the government tackle graft enough to make a new
deal with the IMF and maintain trust with the Kenyan public.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
This is not stopping until you get justice, until they
listen to us, until they listen to most of the
youths who actually are the largest percentage in this country.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
On today's podcast, we're looking at the Kenyan government's attempts
to turn its economy around in the face of protest
us and whether it can do a deal with the
IMF that Kenyan's will accept. I'm Jennifer Zabasaga and this
is the Next Africa Podcast, bringing you one story each
(01:13):
week from the continent driving the future of global growth
with the context only Bloomberg can provide. Joining me this
week is our East Africa Bureau chief, that's Helen Yamburra,
who's in Nairobi for us. Helen, thank you so much
for joining us. So quite a lot has happened since
the protests in Kenya last July that saw at least
(01:36):
sixty people were killed, including Kenya abandoning a program with
the IMF back in March. Maybe we just start here,
where is Kenya now in negotiating a new deal with
the fund?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So ken you walked away from the final review of
that previous four year IMF program, which meant it wasn't
able to draw down in about eight hundred and fifty
million dollars in a final displasement. It's already requested for
a new program, but talks or that will only start
maybe in September, when Keny is expected to have what's
(02:13):
called Articles four our consultations. But there is an IMF
team in town for a different process that's called a
governance diagnostic. It's an exercise in which IMF staff analyze
a country's governance and corruption vulnerabilities. So they come up
with recommendations in a report that the government then can
(02:35):
choose to make public or not. Something that's gained a
little popularity. In the last eight years or so, they've
been twenty one such reports in different places Haiti, Sri Lanka, Oritania.
Kenya has asked for this. It's a voluntary process. That's
what the IMF team is in Kenya currently to do.
(02:57):
The outcome of that governance diagnostic may inform negotiations for
a new financing program. It may also form the conditionalities
for any subsequent timeess program. So that's where Kenya is
right now.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Elen. When we compare Kenya to some of the other
countries you just listed there as far as corruption goes,
how serious would you say the problem is in the country.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Corruption is a pretty major issue in Kenya. Some may
argue it's Kenya's biggest problem, and Kenya has a bunch
of problems. Kenya ranks rather poorly on the Transparence International
Corruption Perceptions Index. I think the most recent one it
was about one twenty one out of one eighty countries,
(03:43):
which is pretty poor showing so corruption in Kenya is pervasive.
It's to be found everywhere. Most people will say that
they ask for bribes, you know, for treatment, to get
medical treatment, or to access their pension, or to get
government services. And it's not just you know, in public
(04:03):
the public sector, it's also in the private sector. So
it is a really big issue in Kenya.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Which sort of leads me to this next question. Helen
about the protests that we've been seeing in Kenya. Much
of the most recent ones are against the behavior of
the police in Kenya, But can you talk about maybe
more broadly where this reaction has come from and how
we're seeing the government responding, especially considering those statistics you
(04:33):
just pointed out.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
So the protest that we saw this week and last
week was parked by the death in police custody of
a digital activist. He was just staty one News. He
was a teacher in western Kenya. He allegedly made some
comments online about bravery in the police force against the
second most senior police officer in the country, who then
(04:58):
went on to make a formal plaint that led to
the activists arrest. So that alleged murder, which was just
two weeks ago, but since then there've been about a
dozen similar debates in detention which the police marked as
suicide and that's according to the Independent Policing Overset Authority.
(05:19):
With this activist's death, the police initially reported that it
was a suicide in the police cell, but were forced
to change this after post mortempture that the injuries were
actually inflicted by someone else. So that just shows you
that you know, corruption is a big matter and people
are willing to kill, you know, to cover up. The
(05:43):
Deputy Inspector General of Police who made the formal complaint
has since stepped away to allow for investigations, but demonstrators
on Tuesday were demanding that he bearring in court. Several
officers that were on duty on that day have also
been are still going to quote but yeah, it just
sent us cause a media issue in Kenya. That you know,
(06:06):
police brutality has been a long, long running problem in
Kenya since pre colonial times, and on Tuesday during the protests,
one policeman was seen shooting at a street vendor at
two point blank cringe, which just underscores the issue.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Absolutely, and the reaction to points to what we've heard
from a lot of gen Zers who feel a bit
disillusioned by this government and this president who had made
promises to tackle this when he ran for president. Stick
with me, Helen. When we come back, we're going to
look at what some of the efforts the government is
trying to make to tackle corruption and how crucial a
(06:47):
new deal with the IMF could be to turning the
country's economy around. We'll be right back. Welcome back today,
we're looking at efforts to tell hackle corruption in Kenya
as the IMF begins a two week visit to the country.
Helen Yambura, our East Africa bureau chief, is still with us,
(07:09):
so Helen. President Ruteau came into office promising to fix
the economy that had been afflicted by corruption and also ineptitude.
Many of these protests, though, are criticizing what he has
and hasn't been able to do. What exactly has he achieved?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Most Kenya that I've spoken to would say that President
Ruteau has failed to stamp out corruption. Very high ranking
officials in his government have been implicated or linked to
corruption scandals. Corruption has always been a problem in Kenya,
so it's not just a problem in this government, but
it seems that it's gotten us with each subsequent government,
(07:51):
and this one too has been able to make any
in roads. Stamping clothes.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I actually wanted to ask, what do you make of
routers then response to these currents, the current situation that
we're seeing on the ground there.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Yeah, he did come out with a statement saying that
the killing of these activists was completely unnecessary and a
sad tone of events, so to his credit, he has
come out and condemned that killing.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
The independent police oversight authority must make sure that officers
in uniform who engage in criminal activity instead of protecting
citizens must be brought to book held to account decisively efficiently.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
But he has made comments against protests and Tuesdays protests,
we saw all these hooded people on motorbikes with whips
and like thetones, beating up people and they were chanting
that you know, rout is going to get another term
and that there should be no protest. So what some
(09:04):
Kenyons and the protesters so that was that these were
goes hired by government operatives to stample you know, legitimate
constitutional people's constitutional right to protest. On the other side,
the government says that it is doing something about this
police brutality.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Might any of this factor helen into what the IMF
is going to be looking at over the next few weeks.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
This governance diagnostic looks at six state functions and one
of the state functions that it looks at is the
rule of law, which no police brutality and anti corruption
would fall under. The other things it looks at its
physical governance, Central bank governance, financial sector oversight, market regulation
(09:55):
and until money laundering. So yeah, governance will feature, will
probably feature in the report, but it's just one or
five of the things that they look at.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Is this potentially, though, a real test for President Ruto especially?
You know, we've talked about how he came into power,
what he you know, committed to doing, and really what
his image has been on the global stage. I wonder
if you think that this could potentially be a turning
point for him and many people will want to see
(10:29):
how he handles this.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, I think the protests last year what really sullied
his image globally. He had been seeing as this Pan
African leader, but those protests and how the government handled them.
More than sixty people are killed in those demonstrations that
were over both two months or so, that really did
(10:55):
sully his image globally. And with this protest, I think
the world will also be watching to see whether there
have been any changes in the way the government handles protests.
People's legitimate right to protest, and yeah, a lot of
people around the world will be watching the response.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
And Helen, before we let you go, considering you are
in Nairobi, I wonder if you can just describe for
us the feeling on the ground there now that all
of these different incidences are happening. Is it palpable when
you walk around? I wonder if you get a sense
that the sentiment maybe has shifted on the ground there.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, you know, with the protest last year, it was
a lot of young people, but in the years of
seeing the disquiet moving to even much older generations. So
there is a palpable sense of disquiet. And although I
don't think it would you know, be generated into you know,
(11:59):
like vi violence, but I think many Kenyans are talking
about change at the ballot books. We have elections in
twenty twenty seven, so a lot of people are looking
for a change at those presidential elections. So there's a
lot of calls for you know, a different a different
(12:19):
leader to come in then. And yeah, we hope that
if there will be any change, then need to be
a democratic rather than violence.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Helen Yambara are East Africa Bureau Chief. Helen, thank you
so much for joining us this week. You can read
all of our coverage on Kenyon's economic challenge across Bloomberg platforms.
Now here's some of the other stories from the region.
We've been following this week. South African inflation held steady
(12:49):
in May as uncertainty around its outlook mounts, complicating the
task for the Central Bank when it meets next month,
and South Africa's Kayalomi pre circuit is planning an overhaul
costing as much as ten million dollars as the country
prepares to submit a bid to host its first Formula
One race in three decades. You can find these stories
(13:12):
on Bloomberg platforms, including the Next African Newsletter. Will put
a link to that in the show notes. This program
was produced by Adrian Bradley and tiwa Adebayo. Don't forget
to follow and review this show wherever you usually get
your podcasts. I'm Jennifer's Abasaja. Thanks for listening.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. An IMF team is
in Kenya to assess the impact of corruption as the
country continues to face protests against alleged police violence. A
(00:32):
year after deadly protests against tax rises and flagrant corruption.
Can the government tackle graft enough to make a new
deal with the IMF and maintain trust with the Kenyan public.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
This is not stopping until you get justice, until they
listen to us, until they listen to most of the
youths who actually are the largest percentage in this country.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
On today's podcast, we're looking at the Kenyan government's attempts
to turn its economy around in the face of protest
us and whether it can do a deal with the
IMF that Kenyan's will accept. I'm Jennifer Zabasaga and this
is the Next Africa Podcast, bringing you one story each
(01:13):
week from the continent driving the future of global growth
with the context only Bloomberg can provide. Joining me this
week is our East Africa Bureau chief, that's Helen Yamburra,
who's in Nairobi for us. Helen, thank you so much
for joining us. So quite a lot has happened since
the protests in Kenya last July that saw at least
(01:36):
sixty people were killed, including Kenya abandoning a program with
the IMF back in March. Maybe we just start here,
where is Kenya now in negotiating a new deal with
the fund?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So ken you walked away from the final review of
that previous four year IMF program, which meant it wasn't
able to draw down in about eight hundred and fifty
million dollars in a final displasement. It's already requested for
a new program, but talks or that will only start
maybe in September, when Keny is expected to have what's
(02:13):
called Articles four our consultations. But there is an IMF
team in town for a different process that's called a
governance diagnostic. It's an exercise in which IMF staff analyze
a country's governance and corruption vulnerabilities. So they come up
with recommendations in a report that the government then can
(02:35):
choose to make public or not. Something that's gained a
little popularity. In the last eight years or so, they've
been twenty one such reports in different places Haiti, Sri Lanka, Oritania.
Kenya has asked for this. It's a voluntary process. That's
what the IMF team is in Kenya currently to do.
(02:57):
The outcome of that governance diagnostic may inform negotiations for
a new financing program. It may also form the conditionalities
for any subsequent timeess program. So that's where Kenya is
right now.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Elen. When we compare Kenya to some of the other
countries you just listed there as far as corruption goes,
how serious would you say the problem is in the country.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Corruption is a pretty major issue in Kenya. Some may
argue it's Kenya's biggest problem, and Kenya has a bunch
of problems. Kenya ranks rather poorly on the Transparence International
Corruption Perceptions Index. I think the most recent one it
was about one twenty one out of one eighty countries,
(03:43):
which is pretty poor showing so corruption in Kenya is pervasive.
It's to be found everywhere. Most people will say that
they ask for bribes, you know, for treatment, to get
medical treatment, or to access their pension, or to get
government services. And it's not just you know, in public
(04:03):
the public sector, it's also in the private sector. So
it is a really big issue in Kenya.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Which sort of leads me to this next question. Helen
about the protests that we've been seeing in Kenya. Much
of the most recent ones are against the behavior of
the police in Kenya, But can you talk about maybe
more broadly where this reaction has come from and how
we're seeing the government responding, especially considering those statistics you
(04:33):
just pointed out.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
So the protest that we saw this week and last
week was parked by the death in police custody of
a digital activist. He was just staty one News. He
was a teacher in western Kenya. He allegedly made some
comments online about bravery in the police force against the
second most senior police officer in the country, who then
(04:58):
went on to make a formal plaint that led to
the activists arrest. So that alleged murder, which was just
two weeks ago, but since then there've been about a
dozen similar debates in detention which the police marked as
suicide and that's according to the Independent Policing Overset Authority.
(05:19):
With this activist's death, the police initially reported that it
was a suicide in the police cell, but were forced
to change this after post mortempture that the injuries were
actually inflicted by someone else. So that just shows you
that you know, corruption is a big matter and people
are willing to kill, you know, to cover up. The
(05:43):
Deputy Inspector General of Police who made the formal complaint
has since stepped away to allow for investigations, but demonstrators
on Tuesday were demanding that he bearring in court. Several
officers that were on duty on that day have also
been are still going to quote but yeah, it just
sent us cause a media issue in Kenya. That you know,
(06:06):
police brutality has been a long, long running problem in
Kenya since pre colonial times, and on Tuesday during the protests,
one policeman was seen shooting at a street vendor at
two point blank cringe, which just underscores the issue.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Absolutely, and the reaction to points to what we've heard
from a lot of gen Zers who feel a bit
disillusioned by this government and this president who had made
promises to tackle this when he ran for president. Stick
with me, Helen. When we come back, we're going to
look at what some of the efforts the government is
trying to make to tackle corruption and how crucial a
(06:47):
new deal with the IMF could be to turning the
country's economy around. We'll be right back. Welcome back today,
we're looking at efforts to tell hackle corruption in Kenya
as the IMF begins a two week visit to the country.
Helen Yambura, our East Africa bureau chief, is still with us,
(07:09):
so Helen. President Ruteau came into office promising to fix
the economy that had been afflicted by corruption and also ineptitude.
Many of these protests, though, are criticizing what he has
and hasn't been able to do. What exactly has he achieved?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Most Kenya that I've spoken to would say that President
Ruteau has failed to stamp out corruption. Very high ranking
officials in his government have been implicated or linked to
corruption scandals. Corruption has always been a problem in Kenya,
so it's not just a problem in this government, but
it seems that it's gotten us with each subsequent government,
(07:51):
and this one too has been able to make any
in roads. Stamping clothes.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I actually wanted to ask, what do you make of
routers then response to these currents, the current situation that
we're seeing on the ground there.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Yeah, he did come out with a statement saying that
the killing of these activists was completely unnecessary and a
sad tone of events, so to his credit, he has
come out and condemned that killing.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
The independent police oversight authority must make sure that officers
in uniform who engage in criminal activity instead of protecting
citizens must be brought to book held to account decisively efficiently.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
But he has made comments against protests and Tuesdays protests,
we saw all these hooded people on motorbikes with whips
and like thetones, beating up people and they were chanting
that you know, rout is going to get another term
and that there should be no protest. So what some
(09:04):
Kenyons and the protesters so that was that these were
goes hired by government operatives to stample you know, legitimate
constitutional people's constitutional right to protest. On the other side,
the government says that it is doing something about this
police brutality.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Might any of this factor helen into what the IMF
is going to be looking at over the next few weeks.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
This governance diagnostic looks at six state functions and one
of the state functions that it looks at is the
rule of law, which no police brutality and anti corruption
would fall under. The other things it looks at its
physical governance, Central bank governance, financial sector oversight, market regulation
(09:55):
and until money laundering. So yeah, governance will feature, will
probably feature in the report, but it's just one or
five of the things that they look at.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Is this potentially, though, a real test for President Ruto especially?
You know, we've talked about how he came into power,
what he you know, committed to doing, and really what
his image has been on the global stage. I wonder
if you think that this could potentially be a turning
point for him and many people will want to see
(10:29):
how he handles this.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, I think the protests last year what really sullied
his image globally. He had been seeing as this Pan
African leader, but those protests and how the government handled them.
More than sixty people are killed in those demonstrations that
were over both two months or so, that really did
(10:55):
sully his image globally. And with this protest, I think
the world will also be watching to see whether there
have been any changes in the way the government handles protests.
People's legitimate right to protest, and yeah, a lot of
people around the world will be watching the response.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
And Helen, before we let you go, considering you are
in Nairobi, I wonder if you can just describe for
us the feeling on the ground there now that all
of these different incidences are happening. Is it palpable when
you walk around? I wonder if you get a sense
that the sentiment maybe has shifted on the ground there.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, you know, with the protest last year, it was
a lot of young people, but in the years of
seeing the disquiet moving to even much older generations. So
there is a palpable sense of disquiet. And although I
don't think it would you know, be generated into you know,
(11:59):
like vi violence, but I think many Kenyans are talking
about change at the ballot books. We have elections in
twenty twenty seven, so a lot of people are looking
for a change at those presidential elections. So there's a
lot of calls for you know, a different a different
(12:19):
leader to come in then. And yeah, we hope that
if there will be any change, then need to be
a democratic rather than violence.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Helen Yambara are East Africa Bureau Chief. Helen, thank you
so much for joining us this week. You can read
all of our coverage on Kenyon's economic challenge across Bloomberg platforms.
Now here's some of the other stories from the region.
We've been following this week. South African inflation held steady
(12:49):
in May as uncertainty around its outlook mounts, complicating the
task for the Central Bank when it meets next month,
and South Africa's Kayalomi pre circuit is planning an overhaul
costing as much as ten million dollars as the country
prepares to submit a bid to host its first Formula
One race in three decades. You can find these stories
(13:12):
on Bloomberg platforms, including the Next African Newsletter. Will put
a link to that in the show notes. This program
was produced by Adrian Bradley and tiwa Adebayo. Don't forget
to follow and review this show wherever you usually get
your podcasts. I'm Jennifer's Abasaja. Thanks for listening.
Host
Jennifer Zabasajja
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