Corruption as the Logic of Capitalist Rule
The revelation that Members of Parliament in Kenya cannot account for Sh 4.1 billion in bursary funds is not an isolated scandal, nor a mere case of mismanagement. From a Marxist perspective, it is the naked expression of the capitalist state in a dependent, neo-colonial economy. In capitalism, the state is never neutral—it is an instrument of the ruling class, a machine for managing the affairs of the bourgeoisie.
The bursary funds, ostensibly created to serve the poor and ensure that children from working-class families access education, have become yet another trough from which the political class feeds. The misappropriation of billions earmarked for vulnerable students demonstrates that under capitalism, even welfare allocations are subordinated to looting. Marxist theory helps us cut through the illusion that corruption is a moral aberration. It is systemic, arising from the way capitalism organizes wealth and power.
When the capitalist state places vast sums of public money in the hands of politicians—without democratic workers’ control—misappropriation is not accidental but inevitable. The theft of bursary funds is simply another episode in a continuous cycle of plunder. This cycle is not caused by “bad leaders” or lack of transparency, but by the structural logic of capitalism itself.
MPs as Agents of the Kenyan Bourgeoisie
Parliament in Kenya is often portrayed as the custodian of the people’s interests. In reality, it is the political arm of the Kenyan bourgeoisie—comprised of landlords, big business allies, tenderpreneurs, and their political brokers. The bursary scandal reveals MPs not as guardians of education, but as conduits of theft, converting state funds into personal wealth and political capital.
The misuse of bursary money mirrors how the Kenyan capitalist class enriches itself: by siphoning public resources rather than creating value through production. Marx identified this as a hallmark of parasitic capitalism, especially in societies shaped by colonialism and imperialism. In Kenya, colonial-era looting of resources was inherited wholesale by the postcolonial elite. Thus, MPs today behave as modern-day compradors, plundering in collaboration with the structures of global capital, while leaving the working class to suffer under poverty and debt.
The bursary program itself, which could have been an instrument of equalizing opportunity, has instead been weaponized as a patronage tool. MPs divert funds to reward supporters, entrench their political networks, and consolidate class power. What is called “corruption” here is actually a mechanism of capitalist politics: redistribution of public resources upward into the hands of the elite, while maintaining a façade of service to the masses.
Why Capitalism and Corruption Are Inseparable
Kenya’s capitalist system thrives on graft because corruption is not an anomaly—it is a structural necessity. Capitalism in dependent economies like Kenya’s is characterized by weak productive bases, reliance on foreign capital, and domination by global financial institutions. In such a setting, the local bourgeoisie cannot accumulate wealth through innovation or industrial growth. Instead, they accumulate through rent-seeking, tender manipulation, inflated contracts, and direct theft of public funds.
The Sh 4.1 billion scandal is thus a textbook case of what Marx called “primitive accumulation”—the forceful expropriation of resources from the masses to enrich the ruling class. Education bursaries, meant to uplift children of workers and peasants, become a channel for MPs to line their pockets.
Attempts to “fight corruption” within the framework of capitalism always fail. Commissions of inquiry, anti-corruption watchdogs, and transparency campaigns are cosmetic reforms that leave the class structure intact. The Kenyan state cannot police itself against theft because it is built upon theft. The very survival of the political elite depends on their ability to loot state resources and distribute spoils among networks of allies.
Thus, corruption scandals are not episodic crises but the normal rhythm of Kenya’s capitalism. One scandal replaces another in the headlines, while the systemic roots—private accumulation of social wealth by a parasitic elite—remain untouched.
The Marxist Solution: Workers’ Power Against Bourgeois Plunder
From a Marxist standpoint, the bursary scandal confirms one central lesson: corruption in Kenya will never end as long as capitalism remains intact. Capitalism breeds corruption because it sanctifies private appropriation of social wealth. So long as MPs and bourgeois politicians control state coffers, they will use those funds to enrich themselves.
The alternative lies in a radical reorganization of power and ownership. Workers’ committees—composed of teachers, parents, students, and trade unionists—must be empowered to manage bursary allocations and county expenditures democratically. This would eliminate the patronage role of MPs and place decision-making in the hands of those directly affected. Such committees would be accountable not to donors or capitalist parties, but to the working class itself.
More broadly, Kenya requires the establishment of a workers’ state—a government of the working class, by the working class, and for the working class. In such a system, the vast resources of the nation, from taxation to natural wealth, would be directed toward social needs—education, healthcare, housing—rather than siphoned into private fortunes.
There is no shortcut. As Marxists insist, reforms under capitalism cannot end corruption because corruption is embedded in the system’s DNA. The abolition of capitalism and the construction of socialism is the only pathway to ending the cycle of looting. Only when production and distribution are under collective, democratic control will the theft of public funds cease to be the defining feature of political life. This might require further explanation, but not now.
Corruption in Kenya will never end under capitalism
In summary, the Sh 4.1 billion bursary scandal is not merely a case of MPs “failing to account.” It is a case study in how capitalism ravages Kenya, turning every social program into a feeding trough for the elite. To the bourgeois press, this is corruption; to Marxists, it is the inevitable functioning of a system built on exploitation and plunder.
Those who imagine that anti-graft campaigns or technocratic reforms can solve this crisis misunderstand the ideological dimension of politics. As long as capitalism reigns, corruption will flourish. The solution lies not in better audits or stronger watchdogs, but in a revolutionary reconstitution of society: abolishing capitalism, dismantling the bourgeois state, and replacing it with workers’ democracy. The definition of a workers’ democracy can be spared for another article.
The bursary scandal, in other words, is not an exception. It is the rule.
Okoth Osewe
About the Author
This article provides excellent analysis of predatory capitalism. If you remove the country Kenya, and replace it with any African country of your choice, the result shall be the same. The Executive arm of the state, comprises of leaders who are dependent on the former colonial powers while parliament is an active agent of the Executive. Parliament does not carry out its oversight responsibilities but itself is engaged in theft of public funds. It is important for the working class to organise itself for leadership positions and not to remain simply a factor of production in a capitalist society.