Kenya is not losing the war on corruption; it has surrendered. The latest reports from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) confirm what every Kenyan feels in their empty pockets: theft is no longer a crime in this country, it is a prerequisite for public office.

The dream of achieving "Singapore status"—a disciplined, prosperous, and orderly society—is dying a slow, agonizing death at the hands of a political class that treats the treasury as a personal piggy bank. The editorial board states it plainly: corruption is winning because impunity has been elevated to state policy. When scandal after scandal erupts—from fertilizer fiascos to housing levy looting—and not a single high-profile conviction follows, the message to the citizenry is clear. The law exists only to punish the poor.

The Lip Service of Leadership

We are treated to weekly sermons on integrity from podiums built with stolen money. The President’s tough talk on "mambo ni matatu" has dissolved into a farce where the corrupt are not jailed or deported, but reshuffled. This cosmetic fight against graft is more dangerous than open looting because it provides a veneer of accountability while the rot deepens. The institutions designed to check power—Parliament and the Judiciary—have been captured or cowed, leaving the EACC to bark without teeth.

The cost of living crisis is directly linked to this plunder. Every shilling stolen from the health budget is a patient dying on the floor. Every kickback in the energy sector is a blackout in a factory. We are paying a "corruption tax" on every loaf of bread and every kilowatt of electricity, funding the lavish lifestyles of men and women who produce nothing but misery.

• The Singapore Delusion: Singapore succeeded because Lee Kuan Yew jailed his friends. In Kenya, we promote them. The comparison is an insult to the intelligence of the electorate.
• The Culture of Acceptance: perhaps the greatest tragedy is our own resignation. We have normalized the abnormal, shrugging off theft that would topple governments in other jurisdictions.

A Call to Rage

It is time to stop waiting for a messiah to clean the Augean stables. The political will to fight corruption does not exist because the political class benefits from it. The only force capable of disrupting this "state capture" is an angry, informed, and demanding citizenry. We must stop applauding the wealthy thieves at village fundraisers and start demanding to know the source of their sudden fortunes.

Until we make the cost of corruption higher than the profits of impunity, Kenya will remain a nation of great potential and zero progress. The thieves are winning because we let them. It is time to change the rules of engagement.