By Anderson Ojwang
Kenyans, and the International Community will be watching closely whether the country’s top leaders President William Ruto, former prime minister Raila Odinga, and the opposition will support the Multi Agency team when it embarks on corruption crackdown or negate the noble agenda.
The crackdown on corruption should not be undermined by intervention through Ruto, Raila, opposition leaders Kalonzo Musyoka, Rigathi Gachagua, Martha Karua among others by playing community and party victims cards on the corruption crusade.
The agency should be given free mandate to arrest and prosecute those engaged in corrupt dealings regardless of their status in the government or opposition.
Ruto recently declared that team will be given a free hand to tackle the run-away corruption in the country and that there will be no phone calls to slow and prevail on the team to spare ‘sacred cows’.
Yesterday, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) revealed that in the past eight months, it has completed 89 cases, forwarding 82 of them to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for action.
The Chief Executive officer (CEO) Mr. Abdi Ahmed Mohamud said investigations were underway, among them cases involving five sitting and 11 former governors facing allegations of embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, and unexplained wealth.
“Four of the cases involve current and former County Governors; two former Cabinet Secretaries, a Principal Secretary and CEOs and MDs of various State Corporations.
“Over the past eight months, the Commission has completed eighty-nine (89) high-profile cases. These investigation files have been submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), with recommendations to prosecute eighty-two (82) of the cases.
In addition, the Commission is at an advanced stage of investigating five sitting Governors, 11 former Governors. These investigations relate to allegations of embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest, money laundering, and possession of unexplained wealth, among other offenses under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
In the counties, the Commission is pursuing cases worth Ksh1.6 billion involving over 800 officials linked to irregular payrolls, allowances, and loan embezzlement.
This year, the commission has recovered 12 properties corruptly acquired, valued at approximately Ksh 600M and over Ksh105M in cash.
Further, it has averted the possible loss of Ksh7.2 B through proactive investigations,” he said.
President William Ruto during the recent Devolution Conference in Homa Bay and ODM-Kenya Kwanza parliamentary group meeting claimed the legislature was breeding corruption by demanding bribes from cabinet secretaries and governors.
“I have made it absolutely clear to the chair of the Anti-corruption commission and to the CEO that there will be no sacred cows and there will be no telephone calls anywhere below or above to stop anybody from being prosecuted for matters of corruption,” he said.
Ruto accused the parliament to be breeding and call for an end to the vice where the bicameral parliament have turned the house committees into money minting rings and ignoring their oversight responsibilities.
“There is something going on in our legislature that we must call out. There is money being demanded from the executives and governors, from ministers, and from people in the executives especially for those who go for accountability before our house committees in the parliament.
It cannot continue to be business as usual , it is not possible that committees of parliament demand to be bribed and paid for them to write report or to look the other way for what is happening in the national government or the county government.
Somebody who has stolen public funds and then goes to court and then gets anticipatory bail. This makes it impossible for such a person to be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
“What is the job of chair of welfare in the committees? What is the job? Extortion and that is what is the prime minister Raila Odinga was saying. You know what is Soko uhuru. Tell me. You know Soko uhuru.
Let me ask you for example members of the parliament seated here, do you for example know that a few members of your committee collected sh 10 m so that could pass the law on anti-money laundering. Did you get the money? So going forward, there are people who are destroying credibility of parliament and they are collecting money in the name of parliament.
And some of the time that money never gets to parliament but it gets to a few people. We are not going to a shame them but we are going to arrest them. Do we agree?”
Raila said “The issue of extortion is real. Every committee has a got a member who is the welfare chairperson, this is giving a bad image of the parliament. Members of the parliament should not be soliciting bribes from the executives.
The environment we are creating in this country is very hostile to investments. Foreign investors who comes into the country bring their resources to invest it here.
And when they bring their resources and find there is too much bureaucracy and there is too much extortion. They run away private capital is risk shy.
We need to slay this animal called corruption. Corruption in the judiciary, legislature and the executive, in the media, and private sector.”
Kalonzo Musyoka claimed “ We estimate Ksh.1 trillion as budgeted corruption for the next financial year… In light of these grievous transgressions, we as a coalition urge the international community, civil society organizations and concerned citizens both at home and abroad to stand in solidarity with Kenyans in condemning the Kenya Kwanza regime’s blatant disregard for the public good.”
Mohamud acknowledged the frustrations of Kenyans regarding the vice, pledging to upscale both preventive and enforcement efforts.
“Notwithstanding the aforementioned interventions, there is a continued feeling by Kenyans, especially the youthful population, that the level of corruption in the country is on the increase. This concerns the Commission as it does every responsible citizen of this country.
While the Commission acknowledges the frustration by Kenyans, I wish to assure the country that the Commission will upscale both its preventive and enforcement mandates geared towards effectively combating corruption in the country”, he committed.
