To Kenyan Writers: the Road to ‘Success’ as Academic Writers

Five years ago, Kingori published an article on PubMed titled “Kenya’s “Fake Essay” Writers and the Light they Shine on Assumptions of Shadows in Knowledge Production”. It sets forth that high-educated Kenyans are writing for students in the global north, using their education and ideas to achieve the transfer of wealth between these “clueless” students and themselves, the latter not only being the Kenyan writers themselves but also the doomed economic and employment condition in Kenya. Kingori frames these Kenyan writers as high educated and competent. Simultaneously, they are these forgotten generation that deserves better opportunities for their capability.

A guardian article written by Weale just less than a year ago in 2025 also details the whole phenomenon of Kenyan writers supplying students of the global north with the homework/essay they need to pass the courses and get their degrees. It goes as far as saying that a US female student falling behind her studies had to sell her nude in order to have the money ($300) to get her essay written while her parents are paying hundreds and thousands of dollars for her college tuition.

The above are just two of the numerous examples out there that depict Kenyan writers as intelligent people who lack the wherewithal and right circumstance to make it. Make what? The standard is of course the Eurocentric one, where certain students from the global north are entitled to: Ivy League education, decent income after graduation, access to great social/public services, etc., though this is not necessarily what writers want.

This blog post, however, argues that these living standards are neither the epitome of the Kenyan dream, nor are all Kenyan writers intelligent, highly educated individuals putting in significant effort to produce quality essays for students in countries such as the U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and so on.

It is not within the hope of this blog post, however, to degrade any population, make assumptions on Kenyan writers, or reinforce and perpetuate the stereotypes entailing the superiority or inferiority of any continent. This is only coming from a person who has worked with a large number of Kenyan writers in addition to writers from the globe.

The cause of this blog post comes from the repeated experience with what I call “fakery within fakery”/”dishonesty within academic dishonesty” after so many years of working with Kenyan writers. The effect of this blog post can hopefully draw attention from some of the Kenyan writers who value the fact that quality dictates the standard of living/income from working as academic writers.

Fakery Within Fakey/Dishonesty Within Academic Dishonesty

Essay mill operates based on the same set of principles and mechanisms as any other businesses out there. Quality, trust, a viable business model, a dedicated team of writers, order dispatchers, marketing personnel, and managers who value each other’s time and effort, etc.

There are also essay mills that operate based on deception, coercion, lies, and the general mindset of making quick money using whatever means possible. In fact, I have personally witnessed numerous writers, including myself, getting absconded by companies or individuals in the past. Chinese companies/people do it; UK companies/people do it… The bottom line is that these are not sustainable practices, not in the industry of essay mill, not in academia, not anywhere.

The unsustainable practices can also be observed on the part of the writers.

Experience 1: Fake References

This is one of the most common things that the Kenyan writers I have worked with like to do. It has costed

• Potential revenue loss (because client won’t come back if this happens)
• Student being called out by the assessor/instructor and referred to academic integrity office (An automatic zero and even completely failing this semester becaues of being placed on academic probation are not uncommon either BTW)

Experience 2: Extremely badly-written essays (I mean it’s really bad)

Extremely makeshift, shabby work (There are so many scenarios that exemplify this. This article won’t list them all; but just use your imagination to reflect on the extremely badly-written essays you have read in your life (Perhaps you wrote it as well). And yes, it can get worse).

Logic not connecting; trying too hard to insert big words into convoluted sentences; not addressing the instruction; ignoring the rubrics/marking criteria – these are just some of the common examples. Generating essays or PPTs using AI without any revision and just call it a day is also common occurrences.

A remark our order dispatcher received from a student: “I could’ve written it better myself”

Experience 3: Irresponsibility + Fixating on the payment

Refusing to revise for reasonable causes, not responding, asking for payment immediately after submission (most of the time the work is low quality in these cases) – these are examples of irresponsible writers who can perhaps get away making a few bucks with a few poor essays before the collaboration inevitable ends. If that is what they want, just consider it as something I never said.

Experience 4: Making False Promises

Many Kenyan writers also tend to make the promises they can’t keep. This manifests in the form of taking on the order they know nothing about and are not capable of. These orders/projects can range from 3D animation to engineering tasks that require real expertise in the area. But for some academic writers, they promise that “I can deliver this”, “this is my major”, “I know a guy who can do this”, when in reality they are clueless about the job. This again causes loss on both sides: we can’t continue hiring writer like this because false promises won’t fulfill clients’ requests, and the writer can’t get payment and lose this collaboration.

What then is the way out? Or perhaps more accurately, is there even a way out — or simply a path toward something more stable — if one chooses to remain in this line of work?

A Way Out: What Actually Leads to Stable Income

What then is the way out? Or perhaps more accurately, is there even a “way out” if one chooses to remain in this line of work?

The answer is yes, but not in the way most would expect.

It does not come from taking more orders, working longer hours, or chasing higher-paying clients blindly. Those are short-term adjustments. They do not change the underlying position of the writer in this system. If anything, they reinforce it. The cycle continues: more work, tighter deadlines, lower attention to detail, and eventually, diminishing returns.

The shift comes from a much less appealing place — discipline and integrity.

Essay writing, whether one chooses to acknowledge it or not, is skilled labor. It requires more than just being able to write in English. It requires understanding what is being asked, interpreting rubrics, structuring arguments, and presenting ideas in a way that aligns with institutional expectations. Treating it as something casual, something that can be done “just to get by,” is precisely what keeps many writers in a position where stability remains out of reach, including our top senior writers from Kenya who make more than 10k a month.

The writers who manage to stay, to earn consistently, to move beyond the constant search for the next order, are not necessarily the most intelligent. They are the ones who take the work seriously. They read instructions. They follow rubrics. They revise when necessary. They respond. They deliver. They do not disappear once the file has been sent. They do not fabricate sources simply because it is faster. They understand that the value of their work is not in how quickly it is completed, but in how reliably it performs.

This is where the gap begins to show.

There is a tendency to equate complexity with quality. Long sentences, difficult vocabulary, unnecessarily convoluted arguments — these are often mistaken for academic sophistication. In reality, most clients are not looking for that. They are looking for something much simpler: work that answers the question, aligns with the marking criteria, and does not put them at risk. Clarity matters more than complexity. Structure matters more than decoration. Accuracy matters more than appearance.

Then there is the issue of time horizon.

It is entirely possible to make quick money by cutting corners. Submitting low-quality work, avoiding revisions, moving on to the next order — this can generate short-term income. But it is not a strategy. It is, effectively, an exit disguised as progress. Because once trust is broken, it does not return in the same form. Not with the same client, not within the same network. And in an industry that relies heavily on repeated collaboration, reputation is not optional. It is the foundation.

Writers who earn more are not constantly searching for new clients. They are working with the same ones, over time. They become predictable in the best sense of the word. Low-risk. Dependable. And that, more than anything else, is what people are willing to pay for.

There is also the matter of honesty, or the lack of it.

“Dishonesty within academic dishonesty” is not merely a phrase. It reflects a pattern that many have encountered repeatedly. Fake references, false claims of expertise, taking on work that one clearly does not understand — these are not just ethical issues. They are practical ones. Every instance erodes trust. Every instance reduces the likelihood of continued collaboration. And over time, that erosion accumulates.

It is worth asking, then, whether the instability many writers experience is entirely imposed from the outside, or partly constructed from within.

This is not to deny the structural imbalance. The system is uneven. Recognition is not distributed fairly. The labor remains largely invisible. But within that system, there is still a distinction between those who approach the work as a craft and those who treat it as a transaction.

The former build something, however modest. The latter cycle through opportunities until they run out.

For those looking for something more stable, the answer is not hidden. It is simply unappealing. It involves doing the work properly, consistently, even when there is no immediate reward for doing so.

And perhaps that is why it is so often ignored because creating and adhering to the workflow that produces consistent quality works isn’t easy after all.

So far, this probably has been off-putting to many because of the personal rant element. But I hereby call for responsible, skilled writers who value integrity and discipline to join us and find opportunities beyond TriadEssay, for yourself, for your family, for your collaborating agent, the whole industry and beyond.

We never look down upon any writers. We only judge based on skills and integrity, no matter you are from, so no need to market yourself as someone from the UK or US.

Ghostwriter as a title in and of itself is already a pride.

This is where you can join us: https://triadessay.com/join-us/