International Anti-Corruption Policy Transfers and Local Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Kenya’s Subnational Governments

This article examines the policy diffusion of anti-corruption frameworks from the Global North to Kenya’s subnational governments and analyzes the contextual factors that led to the emergence of community-led anti-corruption initiatives in Kiambu and Nairobi City counties. The study was informed by policy diffusion, political economy, and dependency theories. A qualitative, interpretative, and phenomenological research methodology was utilized. Two focus group discussions were held with key stakeholders and in-depth interviews ( n = 126) were conducted across county assemblies, executive offices, frontline service delivery points, and county suppliers. Data were anonymized, coded, and thematically analyzed in NVivo version 15 by Lumivero. The findings show that localized anti-corruption efforts provided more contextual legitimacy and effectiveness, challenging the universalist “one-size-fits-all” model adopted by Western-derived frameworks. The results call for a paradigm shift to situate African and Global South epistemologies at the center of anti-corruption discourse.