How can States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) bridge divides between treaty requirements and domestic laws, policies and practice? This case study analyzes the Kenyan government’s efforts to identify anti-corruption reform needs for implementing UNCAC. Benefits accrued from having the very institutions in charge of implementation conducting the review instead of outsourcing it to international consultants. But – although the process was participatory in nature – key actors like the judiciary and the parliament were not included, potentially reducing valuable buy-in for reform. It was also difficult to find a balance between involvement of high-level leadership and implementation-level staff.