Government employees who fail to declare their income, assets, and liabilities could face a salary freeze, disciplinary action, or prosecution under new rules issued by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
The measures are contained in the Administrative Mechanisms for the Implementation of Part IV of the Conflict of Interest Act, published in the Kenya Gazette on August 18, 2026.
The mechanisms, issued under the Conflict of Interest Act, 2025, provide detailed procedures for how public officers will declare their income, assets and liabilities and how conflicts of interest will be handled.
Under the new rules, a responsible commission may take administrative action against a public officer who fails to submit a required declaration or misses the prescribed deadline.
The measures may include issuing a notice to comply, a warning, stopping salary pending compliance, disciplinary proceedings, and other administrative sanctions.
The commission may also recommend prosecution where a public officer fails to meet the declaration requirements.
“Where a public officer fails to submit a declaration required under the Act, or fails to make a declaration within the prescribed time, a responsible Commission may, in addition to recommending prosecution, take such administrative measures as it may deem appropriate against the public officer to enforce compliance,” reads part of the Act.
“The administrative measures envisaged in Paragraph (1) may include but not be limited to” a notice to comply, a warning, stoppage of salary pending compliance, disciplinary proceedings and any other relevant administrative sanction.
Responsible commissions must maintain registers showing which public officers must submit declarations and who has complied.
The register will include details such as the officer’s name, personnel number, designation, the date of submission, and the total number of officers required to make declarations.
It will also record how many submitted their declarations by the deadline and the action taken against those who failed to comply.
EACC Says Govt Employees Must Declare Wealth
EACC requires public officers to submit declarations covering their income, assets and liabilities, including those of their spouse or spouses and dependent children below the age of 18.
Income, assets and liabilities held outside Kenya must also be declared.
“Pursuant to section 31 of the Act, a public officer shall submit to the responsible Commission a declaration of income, assets and liabilities for the officer, spouse or spouses, and any dependent children under the age of 18 years, including any material changes as defined in section 31(4) of the Act.
Statement date for initial, biennial and final declarations,” reads part of the Act.
Where property or other interests are jointly held with another person or entity, the public officer must state the extent of their interest or share.
The obligation applies to state and public officers, including those on leave, under disciplinary action, on secondment, or serving on overseas assignments.
An exception may apply where the Attorney-General grants a dispensation to an officer or a category of public officers, with the exemption required to be published in the Gazette.
New Deadlines for Wealth Declarations
A public officer taking up an appointment must make an initial declaration within 30 days of becoming a public officer.
The statement date for the initial declaration is the date the officer became a public officer.
Officers must also make a biennial declaration on or before December 31 every other year, with November 1 serving as the statement date for the declaration year.
A person must submit a final declaration within 30 days after ceasing to be a public officer.
The final declaration’s statement date is the date the official leaves public office.
For elected state or public officers, the rules require a final declaration when their term expires, regardless of whether they intend to seek re-election.
For appointed state or public officers whose contracts provide for renewal, a final declaration is required when the term ends unless the appointment is actually renewed.
Civil Servants Can Be Required to Declare Spouses’ Wealth
The rules also cover officers who are separated from their spouses.
A public officer who is separated from a spouse must declare the spouse’s income, assets and liabilities to the extent that the officer can reasonably ascertain them.
Where both spouses are public officers, each must submit a separate declaration to their respective responsible commission.
An officer who is required to make declarations to more than one responsible commission must submit a separate declaration to each commission.
How the New System Could Track Wealth Declarations
The mechanisms allow responsible commissions to establish committees to oversee the management, verification, analysis and access to declarations.
They may also designate officers to assist with administration of the declaration system.
The rules provide for the use of automated systems to manage declarations.
An automated system may allow public officers to complete and submit declarations online, receive acknowledgments and reminders, and allow responsible commissions to process declarations electronically.
The system may also analyze declarations to check whether required information has been provided, identify discrepancies or inconsistencies, and flag possible conflicts of interest.
It may also connect with other databases containing information relevant to analyzing declarations.
The EACC may develop a modular system that can operate independently while integrating with existing systems, while responsible commissions may use a centralized multi-tenant platform developed and hosted by the EACC.
A commission may also develop its own internal system, provided it complies with EACC automation guidelines.
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Can the Public Access Govt Employees’ Declarations?
The mechanisms provide a process for members of the public to request access to information contained in a declaration or clarification.
Once it receives an application, the responsible commission must notify the public officer concerned and give them an opportunity to make representations within seven days.
The commission must determine the application and communicate its decision to the applicant within 30 days.
However, where access is granted, the commission will provide only the information requested rather than the entire declaration.
A person dissatisfied with the decision may seek a review or relevant relief from the courts.
Public officers can also request access to their own declarations. The commission must provide a certified copy within 14 days of receiving the application.
Law enforcement agencies may also request access to a public officer’s declaration by submitting a written request stating the reason for seeking the information.
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EACC to Receive Compliance Reports
Responsible commissions must also submit compliance reports to the EACC.
For biennial declarations, the reports will include the number of public officers on the payroll, the number who complied, those who failed to comply, and action taken against non-compliant officers.
The reports will also show the number of declarations where clarification was sought and the number of clarifications received.
For initial and final declarations, responsible commissions will similarly report the number of officers required to declare, those who complied and those who failed to comply.
The compliance reports for biennial declarations are due to the EACC by July 31 of the year following the declaration year.
The mechanisms took effect upon publication in the Kenya Gazette.
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