Wamalwa defends changes on Integrity Bill

The minister for Justice has defended Cabinet’s move to change the integrity law.

“We changed the provisions of the Leadership and Integrity Bill, and it was for a good reason,” Mr Eugene Wamalwa said.

He urged Kenyans to have confidence in the leaders they elected, to debate and come up with a law which will uphold the provisions of the Constitution.

The Saboti MP said reasons leading to the changes made in the Integrity Bill were available to MPs and that they should decide whether they are valid.

“We believe that what is before the house has the input of Kenyans, it has gone through all the relevant processes and from the Ministry of Justice, it has been handled by the Attorney General, the Law Reform Commission and other players,” he said.

According to the minister, the changes made were “purely on the issues of practicability.”

Speaking during the Annual Inter-Generational Children’s Conference opened on Tuesday in Nairobi, he explained that the time left before the General Election was not enough to call over 200,000 aspirants to Integrity Centre (Nairobi), in order to vet them.

He said it would be unrealistic to have the exercise, along with others such as voter registration since the country has other tight deadlines on the election timetable.

“Is it practical to have county representatives from every corner of the country to come to Nairobi for these certificates at this time?” Mr Wamalwa posed.

Last week, a section of civil societies petitioned Parliament to reject the bill saying it had been weakened and contained “fundamental flaws.” The Bill was published and is ready for debate in Parliament. (READ: Street protests over Integrity Bill)

National Youth Sector Alliance Executive Director Emmanuel Denis accused Cabinet of distorting the original Bill and removing some clauses that are entrenched within chapter Six of the constitution, effectively making the bill an illegality.

Among the provisions deleted from the original bill is the requirement for political aspirants and state officers to declare their income, assets and liabilities before being elected or appointed to office, thirty days after appointment and annually.

It also required spouses and children of the politicians and state officers to declare their wealth which the public could access on application.

They also took away powers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to require the National Security Intelligence Services, the National Police Service, the Kenya Revenue Authority, the Higher Education Loans Board and any public body to provide information which may lead to the denial of a compliance certificate.

However, Mr Wamalwa remained optimistic that the Bill would be approved and accepted by Kenyans. Meanwhile, the Attorney-General, prof Githu Muigai said the Leadership and Integrity Bill is open to discussion and improvement.

Speaking at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (Nairobi) during the launch of the Judiciary Marches Week, Prof Muigai said that the government was committed to finding a consensus to create a practical and enforceable law that meets the requirements of the Constitution.

Additional reporting by Paul Juma