海角大神

Corruption and Kenyan politics have long been bedfellows. But these days, even the Kenyan government seems to have outdone itself, from聽$4,400 custom-made condom dispensers and聽聽to a missing $2 billion Eurobond.

President Barack Obama warned that Kenya's progress was stunted聽by chronic corruption during his trip in July. Then in November, in a rare joint show of force, a dozen ambassadors 聽鈥� including from the US, Britain, Germany and Japan 鈥� together issued a rebuke of rampant government corruption. Soon after, a聽cabinet minister resigned over millions of dollars in missing funds, prompting President Uhuru Kenyatta to declare聽.听

But it is not just a problem in Kenya. A majority of Africans 鈥� 58 percent鈥攕ay that , according to a new report by Transparency International released Tuesday. Further, in all countries surveyed a majority of citizens had a negative view of their government's.

And while 2015 may go down as one of the most scandal-ridden in Kenyan history, it may also go down as the year Kenyans fought back. On Tuesday, police clashed with hundreds of demonstrators who were marching in Nairobi to parliament and the Supreme Court in order to deliver a petition urging greater action on corruption.听

鈥淚 believe we鈥檝e reached the turning point, said Abraham Mutai, a whistleblower who was聽 allegations of government corruption.听"The people have reached saturation point, the government has acknowledged this corruption has reached a new level, even the international community has noticed."

Indeed a growing public intolerance for corruption is beginning to sow the seeds of progress. Most telling has been the astronomical increase of corruption cases currently in court: 350 cases, up from only 58 cases last year 鈥斅爄ndicating a hike in whistleblowers sounding the alarm.

The rising intolerance, activists say, stems from the fact that large-scale corruption, once far-removed from the realities of the average Kenyan, is hitting home unlike before.听聽believe corruption is the most pressing problem the government should address, up from 10 percent last year, producing what Kenya鈥檚 most famous whistleblower, John Githongo, calls 鈥渢he return of outrage.鈥�

鈥淭here was a sense in which Kenya had become benumbed to corruption鈥� that 鈥榠t is what it is鈥� and people have to live with it, says Mr. Githongo who quit as Kenya鈥檚聽anti-corruption tsar in 2005 after he realized it was futile.听"That鈥檚 gone.鈥�

Decentralizing graft

Many Kenyans believe that the corruption circus, once limited to the central government, is now spreading its tentacles throughout all levels of governance across the country.听聽

Largely responsible, experts say, is a 2010 constitutional mandate to decentralize power and resources to 47 newly-created county governments. But as power and money was spread over 47 counties, so did corruption.听聽

鈥淲ith the devolution of resources to the county government the problem of oversight became 47 times more complicated,鈥� said Irungu聽Houghton, the associate director of the Society for International Development.听聽

Kenyans in rural areas 鈥� 聽鈥� saw local government as a source of protection from the rapacious central government. But with聽devolution, it became clear that local governments are equally capable of exploiting them. 聽

It showed up, for example, in the form of聽$1000 聽purchased by the Bungoma County government and 聽by Migori County governmen to learn, ironically, about waste management.听

鈥淒evolution has helped bring home the reality of corruption to people in the rural areas,鈥� said John Ngirachu, parliamentary editor at The Nation, one of Kenya鈥檚 largest newspapers.听

'Nothing is sacrosanct'

The hike in intolerance also stems not just from the amount of graft, but where the graft is occurring 鈥斅爏uch as the security sector.听

Earlier this month, a聽report聽by Journalists for Justice accused Kenya鈥檚 military of involvement in a sugar smuggling racket in neighboring Somalia worth an estimated $200 to $400 million a year. The report alleged the Kenyan military was in business with al Shabaab, the Islamist group responsible for the massacre at Nairobi's Westgate Mall in 2013.听

"That is cannibalistic, it is undermining and destroying our own institutions,"聽says Githongo, the聽former corruption tsar.听Ministries like security, education and healthcare were always considered 鈥渟acrosanct,鈥� he says, regardless of who was in power. But things have changed.

Activists say the newfound聽momentum is coming from grassroot protests, like the one that took place Tuesday, and a readiness among officials to leak information as never seen before. Githongo says he receives two leaked reports weekly documenting government corruption, more than聽he has ever received in his聽almost two-decade career as an anti-corruption advocate.听

Last week,聽President Kenyatta announced a cabinet reshuffle to ensure better accountability. He also fired five cabinet secretaries suspended earlier in the year for charges of graft.听

鈥淚n many ways you see the government responding to public demand for action on the issue of corruption,鈥� says Mr. Houghton.听

But progress has limits: many suspended politicians continue on government payrolls and while the number of cases brought to court this year is unprecedented, the number of actual prosecutions remains low.听

鈥淯ntil we see a significant rise in the number of convictions and also in the seizure of assets we are not really convinced that we鈥檙e winning the war against corruption,鈥� says Houghton.