Envoys urge Kenya to slay graft dragon once and for all

Foreign diplomats have told the government to pursue all top corruption suspects if it is to tame the monster that is threatening to devour the economy.

This comes as constitutional and economic experts say integrity laws should be strengthened to tackle the crisis.

US Ambassador Robert Godec, his Swiss colleague Jacques Pitteloud and British High Commissioner Christian Turner said the Kenyatta administration should find and prosecute the masterminds of corruption-related scandals.

The diplomats spoke in the wake of the “MPs for hire” scandal that has rocked Parliament.

Graft-related issues have also surfaced at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission where top officials are clashing over cases under investigation.

Claims have been made of top officials secretly meeting suspects on the agency’s radar while others have been accused for delaying investigations in certain high profile cases.

Also in the spotlight are Cabinet Secretary for Energy Davies Chirchir and top electoral commission officials, including Chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan, over the “Chicken” scandal.

“The governments of the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland welcome recent actions by the Director of Public Prosecutions to combat corruption by ordering prosecutions linked to the decade-old Anglo Leasing scandal,” the diplomats said in a joint statement.

They said the subsequent arrests were important steps in the fight against corruption. 

“We encourage the government to build further on these actions, to include through independent and vigorous investigations of all allegations of corruption, and through fair trials and equal treatment under the law for all those charged,” they said.

ETHICS SYSTEM

Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution chairman Charles Nyachae said Parliament should use existing integrity laws to deal with the graft claims bedevilling it.

“Laws on leadership and integrity are in place and should be used to deal with the cases,” he said.

But constitutional lawyer Wachira Maina said Kenya should design an ethics system to check MPs’ voracious appetite for easy money.

“MPs might retort that there is, in fact, such a code of ethics. True. But it is the generic one under the Leadership and Integrity Act 2012 which, invariably, is honoured in breach by all those to whom it applies,” he said.

“The EACC is also rocked by corruption scandals of its own. The emerging problem is clear: neither the PAC nor the discredited EACC can credibly attack corruption. More is the pity given that Kenya will have a General Election in two years when votes and money, not necessarily in that order, win elections,” Mr Maina says.

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants-Kenya has also weighed in with a call for an independent body to investigate the PAC graft allegations.

“We are not comfortable with the Powers and Privileges Committee investigating their counterparts in the PAC,” the institute’s chairman, Mr Benson Okundi, said.

“If any MP is found culpable and they belong to our professional body, we will not hesitate to delist them,” he said.

He asked other bodies like the Law Society of Kenya to similarly punish any of their members if found guilty.

Mr Okundi was speaking in Kisumu during the institute’s annual meeting for members from the region.

EXECUTIVE ORDER

Last week, President Kenyatta, who appears helpless as the monster envelopes his administration, issued an executive order in which he complained about widespread corruption among State and public servants.

“My office continues to receive numerous briefs, reports and complaints from citizens of blatant breaches of ethical standards, pilferage and outright theft involving civil servants, State and public officers. These unsavoury, unethical and corrupt practices continue to thrive in spite of various reminders and warnings,” he said.

On Friday, two MPs involved in the PAC scandal accused embattled chairman Ababu Namwamba of hiring a comedian to mimic his colleagues in a recording tabled before a House team.

The MPs, who have been mentioned in the bribery scandal, claimed they were victims of a well-planned and executed blackmail plot by Mr Namwamba after they tried to oust him from his powerful position.

“He only produced the so-called recording days after members of the committee decided he should be kicked out for incompetence and doctoring reports. In fact, he is on record saying he will not go down alone,” said Nyatike MP Edick Anyanga.

He denied meeting Defence PS Mutea Iringo to discuss or take a Sh1.5 million bribe. “It is laughable for Mr Namwamba to claim that I sat somewhere to discuss a bribe of a mere Sh1.5 million … people know I can’t be that cheap,” he said angrily.

The MP said Mr Namwamba is trying to smear his name due to his previous interest in the PAC chairmanship.

“This is a desperate attempt by a man under siege to divert attention,” he said.

Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama said he was surprised to hear of the recording.

“Namwamba engineered my removal from the Public Accounts Committee claiming that I was a rebel. How then could it have been possible for me to sit down with him and Mr Raila Odinga to discuss things that I had nothing to do with? That recording is the work of a good trickster,” Mr Arama said.

The two lawmakers, Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki and his Runjenjes counterpart Cecily Mbarire are said to have pocketed Sh200,000 each from a Sh1.5 million bribe allegedly paid by Mr Iringo.