‪Trump Warns Kenya On Bribery and Extortion

The United States has raised serious concerns about corruption in Kenya’s tender procurement processes, pointing to a lack of transparency and fairness that undermines the business environment for American investors.

Reports indicate that Kenyan government officials frequently demand bribes to secure tenders, a practice that threatens foreign investment.

According to the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report (NTE) from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)—a key adviser to President Donald Trump on trade matters—public tenders in Kenya are often marred by graft, sidelining U.S. firms from government contracts.

“Corruption frequently influences the outcome of public tenders, with many challenged in court,” the report states.

“Tenders are rarely announced in a timely or transparent manner, and foreign firms—some lacking proven track records—often win contracts when partnered with well-connected Kenyan entities.”

The report also flags vulnerabilities in Kenya’s Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), citing security gaps that enable manipulation and hacking.

Additionally, the “Buy Kenya Build Kenya” policy is criticized as a barrier to foreign firms, prioritizing local assembly plants over international competitors. The U.S. has called on Kenya to enhance procurement transparency to bolster its appeal to global investors.

Fake title deeds

In a parallel warning, the U.S. has spotlighted a surge in fake title deeds as a growing obstacle to foreign direct investment (FDI) in Kenya. For the first time, the NTE identifies fraudulent land ownership documents as a significant barrier, signaling that the issue will feature prominently in upcoming trade and investment talks between Nairobi and Washington.

Rogue brokers, often in collusion with government officials, are selling nonexistent land or issuing duplicate title deeds, fueling a wave of court disputes—some deadly—and costing banks, workers, and companies billions of shillings.

The USTR report describes an intricate syndicate manipulating records at Kenya’s land registry to produce fake titles used in fraudulent transactions, including securing bank loans.

“The process for leasing developed land is clear, but obtaining leasehold titles for undeveloped land is opaque and unreliable,” the report notes. “Investors risk receiving fake deeds or leasing plots with multiple titles and unauthorized sales.”

Kenya’s Ministry of Lands is pushing reforms to address the crisis, including digitizing decades-old records to enable online registration and verification of titles.

The government contends that this will close loopholes exploited to create duplicate titles and transfer land without owners’ consent.

However, opposition from some lawyers and cartels has slowed implementation.

In November 2024, Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome announced enhanced security features for title deeds to thwart counterfeits, though details were sparse.

The urgency of these measures was underscored months earlier when the government printer reported the theft of 367 sheets of paper used for printing title deeds, exposing the sophistication of the fraud network.

Land remains a prized and emotive asset in Kenya, where the farming sector—contributing 25% of GDP—drives demand alongside a booming real estate market fueled by urbanization and homeownership aspirations.

This land rush has spawned a network of savvy cartels preying on desperate buyers, with officials in the archives department often at the center of the schemes.

The department houses the “green card”—a land parcel’s “birth certificate”—detailing ownership history, transactions, and encumbrances.

Essential for due diligence, this document is exploited by fraudsters who forge title deeds, IDs, and signatures, then alter registry records to match.

Unsuspecting buyers, armed with these falsified documents, conduct searches that falsely validate the paperwork, deepening the deception.