Speaker wants EACC restructured to investigate economic crimes only

National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi on Tuesday called for the immediate restructuring of the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) to exclusively investigate economic crimes.

Mr Muturi blamed the EACC for taking up ‘too many categories’ of crimes leading to a backlog of unprosecuted cases.

Speaking at Karatina PCEA church on Sunday, he said that the anti-graft body has close to 55,000 pending cases which are yet to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for action.

“Those who take part in corrupt deals do not intend to get caught. The EACC should deal with economic crimes that deny Kenyans an opportunity to get services,” he said.

He added: “The agency has 200 investigators. With all that backlog, they have surely bitten more than they can chew.”

Mr Muturi said that the country has the capacity to deal with run-away corruption.

He also challenged the DPP and the judiciary to do their part for the war on corruption to be a success story.

The Speaker also defended President Uhuru Kenyatta and Parliament on their record in fighting the vice.

Mr Muturi said it was wrong for the President to be blamed when independent agencies fail to play their oversight role even after being given powers to do so by the Constitution.

“Do not expect the President to do everything, he is not a miracle worker. Or do you want him to fire the people who have been assigned these roles and take up their place?” Mr Muturi asked.

Mr Muturi termed a report by Mzalendo Trust on Parliament as inaccurate.

“Your Members of Parliament do more than you can see. Before you criticise these people, remove the log in your eye,” he said.