Hilary Onami
Kenyan public-policy strategist Hilary Onami has spent the past decade translating balance-sheet data into reforms that touch citizens’ daily lives. Armed with an economics-and-sociology degree from the University of Nairobi and a master’s in public policy and administration from Kenyatta University, he cut his teeth advising parliamentary committees on fiscal-responsibility clauses before joining the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK). Elevated to director of public policy and research in 2021, Onami has since overhauled the institute’s think-tank wing, launching rapid-response briefs that shaped Kenya’s sovereign-bond strategy, county-revenue caps, and the digital-services tax framework.
Onami pairs technical depth with convening power: his annual Public Finance Forum now draws auditors, senators, and civil-society watchdogs to co-draft recommendations that routinely surface in the national budget. He mentors undergraduate policy fellows and pushes continuous-learning modules that keep 28,000 ICPAK members current on ESG accounting and AI-driven audit tools. Next on his agenda is a data portal that will let citizens track every shilling from appropriation to outcome, plus a regional fellowship aimed at harmonising fiscal rules across East Africa. For Onami, credible numbers are not an end point; they are the starting line for accountable governance and inclusive growth.