Kenya: In Kenya, Public Trust in Institutions and Leaders Is On a Downward Slide

26 September 2025
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Oscar M. Otele, Samuel Balongo and Daniel Iberi

President, Parliament, electoral commission, and ruling party see declines in public confidence over the past decade.

Key findings

  • While large majorities of Kenyans say they trust religious leaders (70%) and the Kenya Defence Forces (67%) "somewhat" or "a lot," far fewer express trust in key government institutions: o Only 45% of citizens express trust in the president, a 27-percentage-point drop since 2014 (72%). o A similar proportion (44%) say they trust Parliament "somewhat" or "a lot," a 10- point decline over the past decade. o Half (50%) say they trust the courts of law, down by 7 points from a peak of 57% in 2019. o Only 36% express trust in the police. Trust is higher in rural areas than in cities (40% vs. 29%) and increases with age, but it declines as respondents' education level rises.
  • The national electoral commission (36%) is among the least trusted institutions the survey asked about.
  • Trust in the ruling party has declined from 61% to 38% over the past decade, now surpassed by confidence in opposition political parties (43%).

Trust in government institutions shows worrying trends globally. The United Nations' (2025) World Social Report highlights that more than half of the global citizenry express "little or no trust in their government" and that mistrust has been growing in every age cohort.

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In Kenya, according to the Edelman Trust Institute's (2025) Trust Barometer, only 38% of adults trust their government "to do what is right," a 4-percentage-point decline from the previous year. A significant concern, on the rise since 2021, is that most Kenyans believe that their political leaders, journalists, and businesses deliberately mislead the public through falsehoods or exaggerated claims.

Declining trust in public institutions has profound implications. Among other things, it can reduce political participation (Newton & Norris, 2000). Uslaner (2013) observes that increasing mistrust of government institutions can also weaken state legitimacy, threatening the provision of political goods and the survival of democracy. To address the problem, Saltelli (2011) argues, governments must actively engage their citizens on key decisions, embrace transparency and accountability in their functions, and be responsive to constituents' issues.

Factors that can undermine trust in key institutions include corruption and impunity, which are significant concerns in Kenya. An Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (2023) survey found that a majority of Kenyans perceive public officials as corrupt, with many reporting experiences of bribery when trying to access government services. Other concerns raised by the survey include abuse of office, favouritism, and nepotism (Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, 2023). Other analysts point to poor service delivery and electoral abuses as weakening trust in institutions in Kenya (Chen, Kombo, & Sullivan, 2024; Hope, 2014).

To try to restore faith in public institutions, the government of Kenya has deployed a raft of measures. Its Open Government Partnership 5th National Action Plan (2023-2027) outlines efforts to enhance transparency by making budgetary information and other government data more accessible, to foster accountability by holding government officers to task, to promote public participation in the policy-making process, and to strengthen partnerships with the private sector (Government of Kenya, 2023). The National Digital Master Plan (2022- 2032), meanwhile, seeks to improve service delivery and efficiency by digitising at least 80% of government services (Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, 2022).

According to the latest Afrobarometer findings, from a survey conducted in April-May 2024, most Kenyans trust religious leaders and the Kenya Defence Forces, but fewer than half express confidence in key government and political institutions. Public trust in the president, Parliament, the national electoral commission, and the ruling party has declined over the past decade.

Oscar Otele Dr Oscar M. Otele is a faculty member at the University of Nairobi.

Samuel Balongo Sam is the project manager for East Africa

Daniel Iberi Communications coordinator for East Africa

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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