We are the reason the war against corruption cannot be won easily

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission CEO Halakhe Wako and other commission officials, address journalists at Integrity Centre, Nairobi on November 16, 2015.Corruption is a cancer that has ravaged Kenya for long. PHOTO | GERALD ANDERSON | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The total elimination of corruption in Kenya is desirable, but it is a far-fetched target.
  • In Kenya, the problem is that not all state institutions are committed to the fight against corruption.
  • The Judiciary has done well in following the legal procedure in expeditiously handling reported cases of corruption.
  • It is the style of the corrupt to divert attention, to issue collective condemnation and to mobilise mobs against someone who seems unwavering in fighting the vice.

The week, I was left wondering how a nation can decide to be gullible where corruption is concerned. Corruption is a cancer that has ravaged Kenya for long. It has eaten into the body in such a way that there is no easy or effective cure for it.

However, there are pockets of hope that demonstrate that all we need to cure corruption is proper, consistent and targeted anti-corruption effort.

If your measure of success against corruption in Kenya is its total elimination, you definitely have a long wait. Indeed, the total elimination of corruption is desirable, but it is a far-fetched target.

But if your measure is consistent and determined action against corruption, including exposing and reporting the vice and creating effective institutions and mechanisms to deal with it, this is a realistic goal to aspire for.

The key is to ensure that the fight is not only heard but also seen to be going on.

In Kenya, the problem is that not all state institutions are committed to the fight against corruption. Some have done better than others. The Judiciary under Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has done well in following the legal procedure in expeditiously handling reported cases of corruption.

Dr Mutunga has made the anti-corruption fight within the Judiciary a top agenda item. He has also shared with the public as much information as is permissible on progress in existing cases.

DIVERT ATTENTION

We should know that it is the style of the corrupt to divert attention, to issue collective condemnation and to mobilise mobs against someone who seems unwavering in fighting the vice.

Diversion is what a columnist wrote regarding on Dr Mutunga’s legacy. If the columnist removed the word ‘Judiciary’ from his article and inserted ‘Executive’ instead and left everything else intact, I know he wouldn’t hesitate to denounce that piece.

Yet, I have never seen the columnist worry about Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy even though the Jubilee record on fighting corruption is, at best, abysmal.

Even Kenyans of goodwill degenerated into collective condemnation of the Judiciary on social media; some simply being motivated to dismiss the court based on the memory of the 2013 election petition.

I am one of those who wrote against the decision of the Supreme Court of Kenya in the 2013 election petition.

But the Supreme Court and other courts have issued many other decisions with the potential to define new legal parameters. In many cases, the courts have defended freedoms in ways never before witnessed.

Indeed, the independence of the Judiciary today is far better than ever before. Even Parliament has never risen up against corruption like the Judiciary has.

HANDLES 2,000 COMPLAINTS

In all fairness, the CJ has led and handled corruption in a manner few public officers can match. A few examples will suffice. Upon appointment, he set up the Office of the Judiciary Ombudsperson.

I am reliably informed that the office handles on average 2,000 complaints annually and has been very effective in processing complaints and also undertaking service delivery spot checks in stations countrywide.

Further, there is in existence a nascent JSC inspectorate unit full with investigators. There is a fully-fledged Directorate of Risk and Internal Audit, which has so far audited 45 courts.

Indeed, this has led to interdiction/prosecution of staff and magistrates. At least nine magistrates are on interdiction and about eight have been dismissed, resigned or retired in public interest.

If one listened to the collective condemnation of the Judiciary, one would imagine that there are specific allegations of corruption against the CJ. But in fact, what seems to be happening is a politicisation of the anti-corruption struggle; an attempt to shield from investigation specific corruption allegations using the excuse of collective guilt.

Quite frankly, I do expect some Kenyans to be wiser on this issue than was witnessed in the week.

Godwin R. Murunga is a senior research fellow in the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi