Communications and PR Specialist Diane Onditi/HANDOUT
Kenya’s corporate sector is at a crossroads. On one hand, the country has a growing number of private sector players driving innovation, job creation, and economic development.
On the other, boardroom failures often rooted in weak governance and unethical leadership are threatening investor confidence, shareholder value, and public trust.
Now more than ever, the call for restoring ethical leadership in Kenya’s boardrooms is not just urgent it is existential.
Corporate governance, at its core, is about accountability, transparency, and sound decision-making. When these principles are eroded, businesses collapse not because of poor markets, but because of internal rot.
Kenya has no shortage of governance codes, from the Mwongozo Code for state corporations to the Capital Markets Authority’s guidelines for listed firms. Yet implementation often remains a challenge, especially when leadership treats compliance as a checkbox rather than a culture.
A recent example that has cast a spotlight on this crisis is the case of the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (KUSSCO).
Long considered a key enabler of financial inclusion through its support to SACCOs, KUSSCO now finds itself mired in allegations of financial mismanagement.
Reports of unaccounted member deposits, irregular loan facilities, and opaque investment practices have raised serious governance red flags.
The ripple effect has not only shaken the cooperative movement but has also exposed systemic weaknesses in oversight, board control, and member engagement.
The KUSSCO case offers a sobering lesson: when board members lack independence, technical competence, and a sense of fiduciary duty, even the most well-intentioned institutions can fail.
It also reveals the danger of blurred lines between management and governance where boards become passive rubber stamps or, worse, complicit in malpractice. But this is not a KUSSCO problem alone.
From listed companies to private firms and state agencies, corporate Kenya has witnessed a troubling pattern of directors engaging in conflict of interest, insider dealing, and weak risk governance.
The public is growing weary, investors are becoming cautious, and employees are losing faith in leadership. So how do we turn the tide? First, ethical leadership must be non-negotiable.
Board appointments should be based on competence, integrity, and independence, not patronage.
Directors must undergo regular training in governance, ethics, and regulatory compliance to remain effective stewards. Second, transparency must move from boardroom promises to public accountability. Disclosures, audits, and risk management must be standard practice, not crisis responses.
Whistleblower protection and stakeholder engagement should be strengthened to ensure checks and balances beyond internal structures.
Third, regulators must become more assertive and proactive. Sanctions for governance failure should be swift and deterrent. At the same time, companies, especially SMEs and cooperatives should be supported with governance tools and capacity-building programs to institutionalise best practices.
The future of Kenya’s corporate sector rests not just on financial performance, but on trust trust that is earned through ethical leadership, principled decisions, and responsible governance.
Restoring that trust begins with every board member asking not just “Is this allowed?” but “Is this right?” In a time of corporate reckoning, Kenya must choose: tolerate mediocrity in governance or demand a higher standard.
The cost of silence is too high. It’s time to lead with integrity or step aside.
The writer is a Communications & PR Specialist
