A new World Bank report has revealed that self-employed individuals in Kenya are subjected to the highest levels of bribes demanded by frontline officials including traffic police, inspection services and municipal agencies.
According to the report released on Wednesday, there are varying levels of bribery in Kenya across different employment categories, comparing survey findings from 2019 and 2025 among people who had interacted with institutions in the previous 12 months.
Self-employed individuals recorded the highest rates, although the proportion fell slightly from about 48 per cent in 2019 to 45 per cent in 2025. The report said informal workers in Kenya lose up to 20 per cent of their daily earnings to bribes demanded by government employees. The November 2026 Kenya Economic Update identifies bribery as one of the challenges affecting workers in the informal sector, warning that unofficial payments reduce incomes and limit opportunities for business growth.
The report estimates that informal workers account for 83.8 per cent of Kenya’s workforce, making them particularly vulnerable to corruption involving public officials. Under a section examining governance constraints affecting earnings and opportunities in the informal sector, the World Bank notes that workers frequently encounter demands for payments when dealing with frontline institutions.
“Informal workers face demands for bribes from frontline institutions such as traffic police, inspection services, and municipal agencies. Reports put the share of bribe fees paid by riders at 5–20 percent of daily earnings (KSh 50–100 daily, plus occasional larger bribe demands),” the report states. The payments add to the financial pressures facing self-employed people and small-scale operators who depend on daily earnings to meet household expenses and sustain their businesses.
MG/abj/APA