We should use President’s assault on corruption to demand concrete results
What you need to know:
- All those who have been challenging the President to act on corruption should at least appreciate his bold step even as they wait to see whether it is serious or merely a public relations stunt.
- One should at least have the grace to give the devil his due, and that is why the reaction from Opposition leader Raila Odinga is so unwise.
The Jubilee coalition government has been loudly assailed from all quarters for presiding over the return of mega corruption.
I have previously suggested on this page that as successor to the Kanu kleptocracy, the administration of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto has the corruption gene implanted in its DNA.
And just last week, I opined that the UhuRuto duo deliberately subverted Chapter 6 of the Constitution — on integrity and ethics in leadership — so that the door to public office could be opened to the most notorious of felons.
Now the President has acted decisively by demanding that all public servants under investigation step aside.
To underline how serious that demand was, nearly a third of his Cabinet secretaries were forced out within a few days of his edict last Thursday. One can expect a veritable bloodbath as other senior public servants follow suit.
One can only applaud the President for finally listening to the public clamour. It is only by distancing himself from all characters that smell of corruption, even if they have not been indicted or convicted, that he can demonstrate that his government will not provide shelter for those of questionable integrity.
UNWISE REACTION
All those who have been challenging the President to act on corruption should at least appreciate his bold step even as they wait to see whether it is serious or merely a public relations stunt.
One should at least have the grace to give the devil his due, and that is why the reaction from Opposition leader Raila Odinga is so unwise. President Kenyatta seems to have embarked on the steps that the opposition chief has been demanding.
Mr Odinga should, therefore, have been the first to laud the President’s action, while still putting him on notice that there will be no relenting until those who have stolen from the public are punished.
He could even have tried to claim credit for forcing the President to the wall on the anti-corruption crusade.
What he came up with, instead, was the knee-jerk reaction that will be seen as opposing for the sake of opposing.
He also, inadvertently, placed himself on the same side as those opposing simply because they are likely to be casualties.
SELF-SERVING ARGUMENTS
Some governors, MPs, and other confederates in the parasitic classes have come out strongly, pointing out that the President has no jurisdiction over elected officials.
They will not honour the demand that they step down if under investigation because they are not answerable to the President, but owe fealty directly to the voters.
Does that argument sound familiar? Some of those pushing it are the very same characters who tried to get Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto barred from running in the presidential election over the International Criminal Court indictments.
These self-serving arguments may be backed by narrow legalism, but they fail the test when viewed against the spirit of the integrity and leadership code.
If we all agree that corruption, next to terrorism, is the greatest threat facing this country, then we must support the first serious action President Kenyatta has signalled in the war against the vice.
This is not the time to introduce petty politics, sour grapes, or self-serving arguments, but to unite as one to confront this cancer in our midst.
Instead of trying to second-guess the President, what we should be all doing is welcoming the anti-corruption drive, while putting him on notice that he will be judged not by mere gestures, but by the number of crooks close to him that are put away and all their illicit wealth confiscated.
Kenyans should make it clear that on corruption, they want to see blood. They must also demand that the anti-corruption drive target all, irrespective of party and ethnic affiliations, personal friendships, status in society, or other extraneous considerations.
Meanwhile, the President may want to tell us if the list he presented to Parliament came from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission or from a private arrangement with the commission’s CEO.
We will have the answer to that today if Parliament makes public the List of Shame. Anything fishy in the compilation might render the entire campaign null and void.
[email protected]. @MachariaGaitho on Twitter
