President William Ruto chairs a joint ODM–Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting in Karen on August 18, 2025.
MPs and political analysts are seeing a connection in a number of recent actions by President William Ruto, including the bribery attacks against Parliament.
The bribery claims, parliamentary investigations into government scandals, enactment of anti-corruption laws, State compensation for victims of human rights violations, a hostile assessment by the United States and an upcoming United Nations (UN) meeting, they say, are linked.
They argue that these issues, though seemingly distinct, are part of a strategy to demonstrate to the international community a tough governance stance while at the same time fixing local politics by, among others, suppressing attempts by Parliament to expose questionable Executive dealings.
To observers, the President’s renewed crackdown on corruption, including Tuesday’s formation of a multi-agency task force, the recent enactment of laws against conflict of interest and money laundering, is an effort to meet some of the conditions by Bretton Woods institutions that would unlock more loans.
With the passage of the Conflict of Interest Bill, Kenya moved a step closer to unlocking Sh97 billion frozen by the World Bank, while the President also cited the anti-money laundering legislation as among the business that MPs had been bribed to frustrate, underlining the importance of the law.
President William Ruto chairs a joint ODM–Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting in Karen alongside opposition leader Raila Odinga on August 18, 2025.
The President also said the two laws have strengthened the fight against corruption in the proclamation announcing the formation of the multi-agency team on war against corruption, whose implementation was blocked by the courts yesterday.
According to Kiambu Senator Karungo Thang’wa the President is a man under pressure from external forces to decisively deal corruption in his administration.
Mr Thang’wa argued that this is why the public claims of bribery and extortion against MPs came just days after the President had assented to the Conflict of Interest Bill, a legislation that the Executive has been under pressure to effect by global lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
“The President seems to be a man under pressure, especially after the passage of the Conflict of Interest Bill, to walk the talk on corruption by the IMF, which is pushing some of these legislations. And due to hunger for money in terms of loans, he wants to be seen as fighting corruption, but you cannot fight corruption by just talking,” said Mr Thang’wa.
Saboti MP Caleb Amisi also argued that the actions by the President are influenced by the international community, which has condemned his administration as corrupt.
Also interpreting a strategy to play to the international community gallery is the executive director of the Kenya National Civil Society Centre, Suba Churchill.
Mr Churchill argued that President Ruto’s renewed anti-graft vigour must be seen against international pressures, including the upcoming UN General Assembly in September and strained relations with the US, Germany and France.
Then there is the petition lodged by Jim Risch, an influential Republican senator enjoying close personal association with the US President Donald Trump, to have Kenya’s diplomatic and trade relations with America reviewed, a move that could see Kenya stripped of its status as a non-Nato ally.
“The President may be appealing to the international community, especially the US, which remains influential at the UN. By posturing as tough on graft, he hopes to safeguard Kenya’s global standing,” Mr Churchill said.
Recent reassignments in diplomatic missions and promises of compensation to victims of police killings are also part of President Ruto’s charm offensive, he argued.
“The President knows that while Parliament could be as corrupt as the Executive that he leads, his messaging and apparent attacks may not change public opinion about his government’s association with the vice, but could still serve to persuade the international community that he stands for something the West still holds dear,” he added.
But Mr Thang’wa and Mr Amisi also believe the President wants Parliament under siege to slow down inquiries into controversial projects like e-Citizen and the privatisation of State firms.
Mr Amisi said that the President is trying to hide his administration’s failures and change the one term clarion call by shifting the people’s attention elsewhere.
“This might also be a plot to try to silence dissenting political voices by saying ‘if you are not with me then I will arrest you’ so that people fear to talk against him,” said Mr Amisi.
Mr Thang’wa claimed the establishment of the multi-agency team on graft is a ploy to silence dissenting voices within and beyond Parliament. He alleged that the President has tried all manner of tactics to silence the critics of his administration with trumped-up charges but has failed.
“How can he form a multi-agency team that he has full control over to fight corruption? He has been paying MPs to pass SHA [Social Health Authority] regulations, impeach [Rigathi] Gachagua, pass the Finance and other Bills. He knows he has been using money to have Parliament support his agenda and he now wants to blackmail them,” claimed the senator.
He went on: “I am seeing somebody who is not ready to fight corruption but is trying to use the same to blackmail Parliament and to silence dissenting voices within Parliament.”
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah.
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah criticised the President for forming the multi-agency task force yet he has no powers to form such a team, and he already has investigative agencies like the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) mandated to fight graft.
“He is just trying to divert attention on his governance failure. The multi-agency team is supposed to be a laundry machine to clear him and his friends from allegations of corrupt conduct,” Mr Omtatah said.
Kirinyaga Senator James Murango said there must be a sinister political motive behind the formation of the multi-agency team.
“Why should you give EACC’s mandate to an amorphous body? I see his attacks as an exercise to please some masters and that is why he has been prosecuting Parliament in public and through the media,” said Mr Murango.
“He should name the individuals involved instead of resorting to blanket condemnation. He has intelligence as the Head of State. Unless you want to use that multi-agency team for political reasons targeting dissenting voices like some of us,” he added.
Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi said that the President was wrong in making the allegations, adding that his conduct towards Parliament is impeachable because the Head of State knows the procedure of dealing with unethical conduct in Parliament.
“Whatever intention the President has, he is completely out of order to have acted the way he has. The admission means there is something wrong about his leadership and that is impeachable,” said Mr Osotsi. “He is the same person giving MPs lots of money to move around the country in the name of empowerment programmes when they are supposed to be working.”
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi (left) and his National Assembly counterpart Moses Wetang'ula during the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi on March 3, 2025.
The ODM deputy party leader also castigated Senate Speaker Amason Kingi and his National Assembly counterpart Moses Wetang’ula for being silent while the institutions they head are under attack.
Mr Osotsi said if the President has a problem with Parliament, then he should have addressed the problems with the two Speakers.
“He [President] is the one who has allowed the two to run around campaigning for him. That is where the problem in the two Houses of Parliament began. We are having two Speakers who are not impartial at all but are openly aligned with the President,” said Mr Osotsi.
Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds chairperson Godfrey Osotsi.
Pan African Christian University lecturer Martin Oloo said the President’s tirade is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. He argued that the Executive cannot claim moral authority to lecture Parliament on corruption when its own record is tainted.
Secure controversial Bills
“The Executive has often bribed legislators to secure controversial Bills, while MPs arm-twist the government for facilitation fees,” said Mr Oloo.
Mukurweini MP John Kaguchia dismissed the President’s accusations against legislators as hypocritical.
“We all know who oils Parliament to pass Bills and even bribed MPs to oust the then Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Spare Kenyans the selective, insincere lectures,” Mr Kaguchia charged.
Kathiani MP Robert Mbui claimed that the Executive has long relied on inducements to push legislation through the House.
“There are two main ways MPs are coerced into passing Bills: through intimidation and money changing hands. This is nothing new; it has always been there. That’s why it is surprising to hear President Ruto now say that Parliament is corrupt, yet during Rigathi’s impeachment, money was exchanged.”
The National Assembly during a past session.
Breaking his silence on yesterday, Mr Kingi dismissed the allegations by the President, saying Senate’s leadership noted the claims did not include particulars, such as individual senators, against whom the accusations are made.
He pointed out that there are several Constitutional provisions on dealing with errant legislators, which he said the President should have exploited.
“For the Senate to invoke this constitutional framework, it is most helpful that the information available to the Executive and other organs and agencies, or other persons, is shared with the Senate,” said Mr Kingi.
Extortion
He added that he is yet to receive any complaints or information relating to bribery or extortion or any other corrupt practice against a senator from a member of the Executive, including ministries, departments or agencies of the government, a governor or other county government officials and agencies.
“If I do receive such complaints, I am obligated and I will take the necessary stern action without delay,” he said.
Mr Wetang’ula was measured in his response to the President, calling for a regular meeting of the leadership of the National Assembly to iron out such issues.
“It is good that these allegations are coming at a time when we have a leadership meeting in Mombasa with the Executive and the Judiciary. We will be able to face each other and ask the hard questions,” said Mr Wetang’ula.
“Beyond that, we will be able to look each other in the eye and tell each other the stark truth that you know what I know and I know what you know and going forward, let us not act in a manner that says don’t say, don’t ask,” he added.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah said the President has every right to state his views on any subject, including the work of the Legislature, and call out what he may think needs to be rectified.
“That is the role he plays as President. We respect that as much as we appreciate our role in oversight of the other arms of government. As a legislature, we also recognise the need to uphold the dignity and integrity of the institution of Parliament as the President has stated,” said the Kikuyu MP.
“While as the Constitution gives Parliament immense powers as the legislature, we do not threaten anybody, leave alone the President who is our team leader. We work independently but with complimentary roles to deliver on our agenda,” he added.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed did not respond to our inquiries on this story.
