Anti-Corruption Commission targets Sh5bn stolen county assets

The anti-graft agency has identified Sh5.5 billion of illegally acquired wealth in the counties and has initiated efforts to recover and revert it to the public.

Most of the assets targeted are prime pieces of land and public parks that have been grabbed by individuals and in a few cases, cash deposits in commercial banks, according to a report released by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Wednesday.

In Nairobi and Mombasa counties, assets valued at Sh3.2 billion and Sh1.4 billion, respectively, have been marked as stolen public properties.

Other stolen properties are in Nakuru, Kilifi, Nyandarua, Nandi, Kisumu, Nyeri, Samburu, Laikipia, Uasin Gishu and Busia counties. The report says:

“Corruption and unethical conduct have been identified to constitute some of the major threats to the realisation of the objectives of devolution and the goals of Kenya Vision 2030.”

EACC Chief Executive Officer Halakhe Waqo said: “Several other assets have been identified but have not been listed because they have to undergo verification. Once verified and valued, the figure will go even higher by several other billions.”

The report cited two surveys conducted by the EACC in 2014 and 2015.

“The 2014 survey shows that corruption is prevalent in the 47 counties at a rate between one per cent and 3.5 per cent. A survey conducted in 2015 indicates that 47.7 per cent of the respondents think corruption had increased in county governments,” the report adds.

Besides the identified stolen assets, EACC says it has recovered other properties valued at Sh1.9 billion since 2013.

Recovered assets include public roads, land, office blocks, cash, hospitals and public beaches. Between April 2013 and September this year, the commission received 808 cases against county governments. The offences under investigation include bribery, embezzlement, irregular procurement, abuse of office, false accounting and other forms of fraud.

Some 202 county officials, including two governors, five county secretaries, three speakers, two clerks, seven executives and 183 officials of other ranks have been charged in court.

RAMPANT CORRUPTION

The report also shows that rampant corruption in the counties is fuelled a deeply entrenched culture of “tolerance to unethical behaviour.”

Other loopholes are lack of proper asset inventories, poor data management and record keeping, lack of title deeds for public land and lack of clarity on who is the official accounting officer in county governments.

EACC also noted that there exists weak legal frameworks which prevent proper enforcement of laws against offenders.

The report also lists measures taken to curb corruption, including training MCAs on oversight skills.

“The commission conducts capacity building for MCAs to enable them carry out their oversight role on operations of county government. It also trains county government staff, Assembly staff on ethics, integrity and anti-corruption issues,” it says.

According to the Commission, 338 MCAs and 1,878 county staff have been trained.

“The Commission also provides advisories to county governments on the measures that should be put in place to prevent corruption. Twenty-three county governments have signed action plans with the government,” the report also says.

In the years under review, EACC also reviewed systems of 14 counties with the aim of establishing those susceptible to corruption risk.

“The Commission is preparing a generic advisory that will be issued to all the County governments based on the findings of the assessment,” according to the report.