EACC swims in rough waters as graft cases pile up

Since President Uhuru’s State of the Nation address in March, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has gone through rough times.

The President gave the EACC a list containing names of high profile officials allegedly involved in corruption.

However, a petition was submitted to the National Assembly by city lawyer Geoffrey Oriaro, who argued that the agency’s Chairman Mumo Matemu and Vice-Chairperson Irene Keino were incapable of leading the war against corruption.

MPs voted in favour of dismissing the two and the President agreed with them.

Mr Matemu and Ms Keino resigned to avoid facing a tribunal appointed by the President to look into their conduct.

This raised questions as to if EACC was properly constituted to prosecute those under implicated.

The tribunal was disbanded as there was no one to be investigated.

What followed was a circus after those taken to court challenged the legality of EACC.

The officials argued that the commission was not properly constituted.

Before the dust settled, the Parliamentary committee on Justice and Legal affairs tabled a Bill to amend the EACC Act to increase the number of commissioners from three to five and reduce their work.

Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa successfully introduced an amendment that sought to remove CEO Halakhe Wako and his deputy, Michael Mubea.

The President is yet to sign the Bill into law.

Other stakeholders have opposed the amendment, saying it was not passed in good faith.

An EACC report tabled in Parliament shows that 315 corruption cases were investigated by the commission in the last financial yet only 26 ended up in court.

The report shows that 76 cases are still being investigated.