Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in Kenya: Who Counts, EDD and Ongoing Monitoring (2026)

Short answer: Politically exposed persons (PEPs) in Kenya are defined in regulation 26(5) of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering (POCAML) Regulations, 2023: people entrusted with a prominent public function in Kenya or abroad, such as Cabinet members, State officers and senior public officers, plus their immediate family members and close business associates. Foreign PEPs always get enhanced due diligence (EDD); domestic and international-organisation PEPs get it only where the relationship is higher risk. Kenya has no official PEP list, and the regulation sets no end date for PEP status; guidance from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) tells its licensees to keep treating former PEPs as PEPs for at least 12 months.

This guide is for MLROs and compliance teams at Kenyan banks, SACCOs, insurers, payment providers, capital-market firms and DNFBPs, and reflects the texts as at 19 October 2026. The Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act (POCAMLA), the 2023 Regulations and the regulators' own texts are authoritative; this is not legal advice. Sanctions lists and the 24-hour freeze rule are covered in our sanctions and PEP screening guide.

---

What a PEP is under Kenyan law

POCAMLA does not define a PEP. Regulation 26(5) of the POCAML Regulations, 2023 (Legal Notice 153 of 2023) does:

"a politically exposed person means a person who has been entrusted with a prominent public function in Kenya or another jurisdiction, including— (a) members of Cabinet; (b) senior executives of state owned corporations; (c) important political party officials; (d) senior military officials and other senior members of the disciplined forces; (e) members of the Judiciary; (f) State Officers; (g) senior Public Officers; (h) senior Officials of International Organisation; (i) Heads of State or Government; (j) any immediate family member or close business associate of a person referred to under this sub regulation; and (k) any other category of persons as the Centre may determine."

The list is open ("including"), so the test is the prominent public function, not the job title. "Has been entrusted" sets no end date. Item (k) lets the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) add categories; CBK's 2025 guidance notes that it had not done so.

Who counts in practice

CBK's Guidance on Politically Exposed Persons (August 2025, effective 1 September 2025) works through the list in detail. It applies to commercial banks, mortgage finance companies, microfinance banks, money remittance providers, forex bureaus, payment service providers and non-deposit-taking credit providers (see our guide to AML for banks). CBK says its interpretation is neither final nor exhaustive.

At county level, CBK also lists the county secretary, assembly speaker and clerk, public service board members, chief officers and directors, and heads of finance and procurement. "Prominent public function" is not defined in law; CBK excludes middle-ranking and junior officials.

State officers under Article 260

Article 260 of the Constitution says "'State officer' means a person holding a State office;". Its list of State offices covers the President, Deputy President, Cabinet Secretaries, Attorney-General, Director of Public Prosecutions, Secretary to the Cabinet and Principal Secretaries; Members of Parliament; judges and magistrates; members of Chapter Fifteen commissions and independent office holders; governors, deputy governors, county executive members and members of county assemblies; the Chief and service commanders of the Kenya Defence Forces, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service and the police Inspector-General and deputies; and any office national legislation designates as a State office. CBK treats all of them as automatic PEPs.

Not every public officer is a PEP, only senior officers with prominent functions. Article 260 counts an office in the national government, a county government or the public service as a "public office" if its pay comes "directly from the Consolidated Fund or directly out of money provided by Parliament", so CBK says institutions should know how a public body is funded.

Senior public officers

We found no Kenyan law that defines "senior public officer"; CBK leaves it to each institution's risk assessment. The FRC's March 2025 guidance for designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) suggests weighing a role's responsibilities, whether its title is honorary or salaried, its authority over officials, its access to significant government assets or funds (or power to direct tenders), its vulnerability to corruption and its links to industries prone to money laundering.

Family members and close associates

Regulation 26(5)(j) covers "any immediate family member or close business associate" and defines neither term. The FRC's DNFBP guidance describes family as relatives by blood, marriage or a similar civil partnership, and close associates as people closely connected socially or professionally.

CBK goes wider than the regulation's wording. Its starting list runs from spouses, parents, children and siblings out to grandparents, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins, parents- and siblings-in-law, step-relatives and adoptive relationships, and it notes polygamous customary marriages. Its close associates include known sexual partners outside the family, prominent members of the same party, civil organisation or union, and business partners such as shared beneficial owners or board members.

Foreign, domestic and international-organisation PEPs

For domestic and international-organisation PEPs, regulation 26(2) applies the measures "in cases when there is higher risk business relationship with such a person".

CBK warns against assuming domestic PEPs are lower risk. Assess each relationship first: the usual customer, country, product and channel risks, plus the PEP's seniority, control over public funds, involvement in public procurement and business interests linked to the role. If the risk is normal or low, treat the PEP like other customers but watch for changes in status. If controls cannot mitigate the risk, the institution may decline or end the relationship.

CBK also wants national risk assessment findings applied to PEPs. The FRC's February 2025 national risk assessment guidance puts corruption and economic crimes first by proceeds generated in 2021 to 2023; our guide to Kenya's national risk assessment and customer risk rating shows how to build that in.

Sector rules differ:

• SACCOs: SASRA treats all foreign PEPs as high risk, and domestic PEPs where the SACCO's own assessment says so. Its EDD includes CEO or board approval.
• Capital markets: CMA Circular No. 04 of 2025 says intermediaries must apply all four measures to foreign and domestic PEPs. That is stricter than regulation 26(2), so the circular is the safer reading for CMA-licensed firms.
• Insurance: IRA's 2020 guidelines require a framework to identify PEPs, their source of funds and enhanced continuing due diligence, including on family members and close associates. See our insurance AML guide.

What enhanced due diligence means for a PEP

Regulation 26(1) sets four measures:

1. risk-management systems to identify PEPs;
2. senior management approval before establishing, or continuing, the relationship;
3. reasonable measures to establish source of wealth and source of funds;
4. enhanced ongoing monitoring.

CBK's guidance adds detail:

• Who approves. The Regulations do not define senior management, so the level depends on the institution's size and structure. Approvers should understand the customer's risk and keep reconsidering whether to continue the relationship.
• Wealth versus funds. Source of wealth is the origin of the PEP's total assets; source of funds is the origin of the money in this relationship. Check declarations against land, property and company registers, past transactions and open sources. Do not presume PEPs are expected to be wealthy. Unexplained gaps may call for a suspicious transaction report (STR) through goAML.
• No shortcuts. Knowing a PEP well is no reason to skip EDD.

How long someone stays a PEP

We found no Kenyan law, FRC text or SASRA rule that sets a period; regulation 26(5) says "has been entrusted".

CBK's guidance says former PEPs, and their family and close associates, should generally still be treated as PEPs 12 months after leaving office. After that, the institution documents a risk assessment of residual influence, looking at the former role's seniority, any informal influence and links between current and former functions. If no risk remains, ordinary monitoring applies. The same paragraph says time should not decide when PEP status ends, so treat 12 months as a minimum, not an end date. This is guidance for CBK licensees, not law.

CMA says a former PEP may stay high risk while they keep political influence.

Is there an official PEP list in Kenya?

No. No government PEP list or database was found. CBK's guidance, citing Kenya's 2022 mutual evaluation, says there is no comprehensive local database of domestic PEPs, and that Kenya Gazette notices do not cover all appointments, family members or close associates.

The FRC's Domestic List is a targeted-sanctions list, not a PEP list. Public officers' declarations of income, assets and liabilities under the Conflict of Interest Act, 2025 are available only on application to the responsible Commission, by someone who shows a legitimate interest.

What to use instead:

• An in-house PEP database, built by category and updated as office-holders change. CBK says institutions should have one.
• Public sources named by the FRC and CMA, such as IEBC Gazette notices of elected members and party officials, lists of heads of government agencies, Judicial Service Commission and Ministry of Defence information, and parliamentary websites.
• Internet and media searches, combined with other sources.
• Commercial PEP databases, which CBK leaves optional. They may miss domestic PEPs, and their cost should not be passed to customers.
• Self-declarations, backed by direct questions at onboarding.

PEPs as beneficial owners and life-policy beneficiaries

A PEP may be the beneficial owner of a corporate customer rather than the customer. CBK says regulation 26 applies then too, and its 2025 customer due diligence guidance expects screening against PEP databases, including family members and close associates, before onboarding and on an ongoing basis.

For life insurance, regulation 26(3) requires institutions to determine, by payout at the latest, whether the beneficiary or the beneficiary's beneficial owner is a PEP. In higher-risk cases they must inform senior management before payout, apply enhanced scrutiny and consider an STR.

Screening and monitoring in practice

• Ask at onboarding. CBK expects direct questions about current and previous positions, built into onboarding forms. Do not rely on self-declaration alone; false answers may warrant an STR.
• Watch for changes. Public appointments change often. Monitor existing customers on a risk basis and apply regulation 26 when one becomes a PEP.
• Automation is encouraged, not required. CBK says automated monitoring enables continuous, timely monitoring, but smaller institutions may monitor manually, accepting the risk of missing suspicious PEP transactions.
• Review by risk. CBK says higher-risk customers such as PEPs are reviewed more often, but it sets no fixed interval. Document yours.

Supervisors are checking: CBK's inspections found failures to identify or classify PEPs and to establish source of funds and wealth. As of the June 2026 plenary, Kenya remains under FATF increased monitoring; the next plenary is 26 to 30 October 2026.

Compliance checklist

1. Map each regulation 26(5) category to Kenyan offices, and document where you draw the seniority line.
2. Build an in-house PEP database by category, and keep its sources.
3. Add direct questions on public positions and family links to onboarding forms.
4. Screen customers, beneficial owners and life-policy beneficiaries, including family members and close associates, at onboarding and on an ongoing basis.
5. Apply EDD to every foreign PEP; risk-assess domestic and international-organisation PEPs and record the result.
6. Name the senior managers who approve PEP relationships.
7. Record source of wealth and source of funds separately, and check them against public registers.
8. Set monitoring and review frequency by risk, and watch existing customers for changes in PEP status.
9. For former PEPs, keep PEP treatment for at least 12 months (CBK licensees), then document a residual-influence assessment.

Where Creodata fits

Creodata's sanctions, PEP and adverse-media screening is part of the Starter tier of our AML compliance software for Kenya. It uses fuzzy, multi-script, locale-aware name matching, a match-scoring engine that shows the top reasons behind each hit, and a structured false-positive workflow. It screens against lists synced from providers or uploaded by you, so an in-house PEP database can sit alongside any commercial data you subscribe to; no Kenyan PEP list comes pre-loaded. A PEP match feeds the customer's six-factor risk rating and opens an enhanced due diligence review inside case management, with periodic reviews scheduled by risk band. Every decision is kept in an append-only audit log, and the software runs on Microsoft Azure or on-premises in your own data centre, with the same features.

Frequently asked questions

Who is a politically exposed person (PEP) in Kenya?

Anyone entrusted with a prominent public function in Kenya or abroad, under regulation 26(5) of the POCAML Regulations, 2023, including Cabinet members, State officers, senior public officers and members of the Judiciary, plus their immediate family members and close business associates. Members of Parliament, governors and members of county assemblies hold State offices under Article 260, so they count.

What does CBK's PEP guidance say?

CBK's Guidance on Politically Exposed Persons took effect on 1 September 2025 for seven types of CBK licensee, including banks and payment service providers. It gives examples for each PEP category, explains EDD and says former PEPs should generally be treated as PEPs for at least 12 months after leaving office. Regulation 26 remains the binding rule.

Is there an official PEP list in Kenya?

No. No government PEP list or database was found, and CBK's guidance says there is no comprehensive local database of domestic PEPs. Institutions build their own from public sources. The FRC's Domestic List is a sanctions list, not a PEP list.

Do domestic PEPs always need enhanced due diligence?

No. Under regulation 26(2), domestic and international-organisation PEPs get EDD only where the relationship is higher risk; foreign PEPs always get it. CMA, however, requires capital-market intermediaries to apply the measures to domestic PEPs too.

How long does someone remain a PEP in Kenya?

Regulation 26(5) sets no period, and we found no other law that does. CBK tells its licensees to treat a former PEP as a PEP for at least 12 months after leaving office, then document a risk assessment of residual influence. CBK adds that time alone should not decide when PEP status ends.

Are family members of a PEP also PEPs?

Yes. Regulation 26(5)(j) covers any immediate family member or close business associate of a PEP. The FRC describes family as relatives by blood, marriage or civil partnership, and CBK's working list goes wider, out to cousins, siblings-in-law and step-relatives.

---

See how Creodata's AML compliance software turns a PEP match into a risk-rating update and an EDD review on one record of the customer, or book a demo.