Reporting corruption in Kenya carries real risk. People have lost jobs, been threatened, and in some cases been harmed. We will not pretend otherwise, and we would rather you make an informed decision than a confident one.
1. What we commit to
- We will never ask who you are. There is no field for your name, phone number, email or ID anywhere on the report form.
- We will not try to identify you. No staff member is permitted to attempt to unmask a reporter, and doing so is a disciplinary matter.
- Your evidence is not published. Files can be opened only by signed-in, authorised staff, and never from the public side of the site.
- Need-to-know access. A field unit sees only the cases assigned to it. This is enforced by the system, not merely by instruction.
- We will tell you the truth about risk, including where our protection ends.
- We will not retaliate against anyone who reports in good faith, including our own staff and members.
2. The honest limits
No website can make you untraceable
Connection records exist at the infrastructure level. Photographs carry hidden metadata, often including exact GPS coordinates. The content of a report can identify its author if only a few people knew the facts. And a valid court order can compel disclosure of what is held. Section 2 of our Privacy Policy sets this out in full.
The strongest protection Shahidi offers is structural: we do not collect your identity, so there is very little about you to compromise. That is genuine, and it is not the same as invisibility.
3. Practical steps that actually help
- Strip location data from photos. Most phones can share a photo "without location data". If yours cannot, take a screenshot of the photo and upload the screenshot instead — screenshots do not carry the original GPS data.
- Use a device and network that are not obviously yours if the matter is serious — not your work laptop, and not your employer's wifi.
- Write carefully. Avoid details that only you could know, unless they are essential to the report.
- Store your case number somewhere safe — and somewhere that does not itself reveal what you have done.
- Use "Forget cases on this device" on a shared, borrowed or vulnerable phone. Your cases stay open; only the local list is erased.
- Clear your browsing history after reporting if others use your device.
- Do not investigate on your own. Gathering more proof yourself is how reporters get discovered and hurt. Tell us what you know and let the process work.
4. What Kenyan law gives you
| Law | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Bribery Act, 2016 | Protects a person reporting bribery from intimidation and harassment, and provides for confidentiality of their identity. Private and public entities have duties to put reporting procedures in place. |
| Witness Protection Act, 2006 | Establishes the Witness Protection Agency, which can admit a witness at risk into a formal protection programme. |
| Access to Information Act, 2016 | Protects a person who discloses information about wrongdoing in good faith from prejudice at work. |
| Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003 | Governs corruption offences and the EACC's investigative powers; provides for confidentiality of informers. |
| Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2011 | Gives the EACC its mandate, including assisting bodies to establish whistleblower procedures. |
| Constitution of Kenya, 2010 | Article 33 protects freedom of expression; Article 31 protects privacy; Article 35 protects access to information. |
| Data Protection Act, 2019 | Governs how we must handle any personal data in your report, and gives you rights over it. |
5. The protection gap you should know about
Kenya still has no comprehensive whistleblower protection statute
The Whistleblower Protection Bill has been through several drafts — 2023, 2024 and since — and has not been enacted. Until it is, protection is a patchwork, and most of it attaches to reports made to a competent state authority, not to a civil society platform like Shahidi.
In plain terms: reporting to Shahidi does not by itself place you under statutory whistleblower protection. If you need that protection — particularly if you are an employee reporting your own employer, or a public officer — you may need to report directly to the EACC, and to seek advice from an advocate first.
We say this because the alternative is letting you believe you are covered when you may not be. We can still receive your report, act on it, and refer it onward — and we will explain the direct route where that serves you better.
6. If you are threatened or face retaliation
- If you are in immediate danger, call 999, 112 or 911, or go to the nearest police station. Shahidi is not monitored around the clock and cannot send help.
- Tell us through your case chat. We will prioritise the case and help you consider your options.
- Write down what happened — dates, what was said, who was present. Keep it somewhere safe.
- Contact the Witness Protection Agency if you are a witness at risk in a matter under investigation.
- Speak to an advocate. If your job or livelihood is threatened, early legal advice matters more than anything a website can offer.
7. Where else to turn
| Body | What they do |
|---|---|
| Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) | Statutory anti-corruption investigator; reporting here can attract statutory protections |
| Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) | Criminal investigation |
| Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) | Decides on prosecutions |
| Witness Protection Agency | Protection programme for witnesses at risk |
| Kenya National Commission on Human Rights | Human rights violations and reprisals |
| Transparency International Kenya | Advice and legal aid for whistleblowers |
| Office of the Data Protection Commissioner | Complaints about misuse of personal data |
Before launch
Current published telephone numbers, physical addresses and hotline details for each of the bodies above should be inserted into this table and checked periodically, so a reporter in trouble is never left searching.
This page is general information about the law in Kenya. It is not legal advice, and it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. If your safety, employment or liberty is at stake, consult an advocate.