New proposal to tame ministers’ buck passing

Senior officials implicated in corruption scandals should be compelled to take political responsibility, a government report has

recommended.

The report prepared by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs also criticises ministers who blame their juniors when

they are accused of corruption.

“The political class should embrace the values of integrity, transparency and accountability and lead by example as an attempt to

diffuse the negative public perception and influence the public in a positive way,” says the report that is based on a survey

carried out under the Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) reform programme.

Ministers have been steadfast to deny responsibility when financial scams are uncovered in their dockets, often citing the fact

that they are not the accounting officers and do not directly authorise expenditure.

Education minister Prof Sam Ongeri has adopted that line of defence in the latest revelations of the theft of at least Sh4.2 billion of Free Primary Education funds.

“Nowhere in the (Treasury audit) report has my name been mentioned,” Prof Ongeri said in Parliament as MPs put him to task over the scandal.

Former Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula also attempted to adopt that line of defence before he resigned under pressure from MPs over the embassies scam.

Weak policy framework

Water and Irrigation minister Charity Ngilu and Local Government minister Musalia Mudavadi successfully evaded responsibility along the same lines when issues arose in their respective dockets.

The GJLOS report dated June 2011 identifies a weak policy and legal framework, inadequate access to information by the public and tolerance of corruption and impunity as the major challenges in enhancing transparency, integrity and accountability in Kenya.

It has recommended the revision or repeal of six laws that relate to the conduct of civil servants and the establishment of institutions that deal with corruption and integrity issues.

These Acts include the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, Public Officers Ethics Act, Exchequer and Audit Act, Public Audit Act, Government Financial Management Act and the Public Procurement and Disposal Act.

The report recommends that the Independent Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission be given prosecutorial powers to enhance its role in fighting the vice.

The new body will replace the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, which has over the years been involved in a blame game with the Attorney General over the prosecution of high-profile corruption suspects.

The draft report also recommends revision of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act to make it easy for the KACC to recover assets acquired using stolen money. An unnamed official of the KACC recommended the amendments to the existing law during the survey carried out by GJLOS.

Recover stolen property

“The law on asset recovery is ineffective…KACC finds it difficult to recover stolen public property like land…the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act needs to be amended or overhauled to ensure KACC has prosecutorial powers and make

workable provisions on asset recovery,” the official said.

The report says the development of a Mutual Legal Assistance Law would also assist in the recovery of money stashed abroad.

With the devolution outlined in the new Constitution, the report also recommends the establishment of Anti-Corruption Civilian

Oversight Committees to monitor the management of devolved funds.