Eugene Wamalwa opposes weekend arrests of graft suspects

Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa has slammed the weekend arrests of corruption suspects by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission detectives, saying the anti-graft war should not be dramatised.

Speaking during the governors' peer learning summit in Makueni County on Monday, Mr Wamalwa said that the approach is bound to fail.

"The war against corruption will not be won by drama. The drama we have seen recently like the Friday night arrests and the suspicious opinion polls are unnecessary and will not help the country in this agenda," he said in Wote town.

Mr Wamalwa called for sober reflection on whether such an approach will help the country stamp out graft.

One of the high-ranking government officials arrested on a weekend is National Land Commission Chairman Muhammad Swazuri. He was arrested on a Saturday.

Others who have been arraigned over corruption-related charges are former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero and Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong.

IPSOS POLL

The CS also dismissed the recent opinion poll findings by Ipsos Synovate that showed Deputy President William Ruto and Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru are the most corrupt of "all the current and past but still alive political leaders".

Mr Wamalwa singled out corruption as the biggest threat to devolution, but faulted how it is being fought.

Nonetheless, he said he fully supports President Uhuru Kenyatta’s renewed war against the vice.

"I think we must work together and see how we can commit and start from the family level by instilling the best values in our children, and then scale it to our county governments," he told governors at Kusyombuguo Lodge.

"Unless we start by talking to our children about the Christian values when we converge at our dinner tables, we will not win this war."

REGIONAL BLOCS
The peer learning event was hosted by Governor Kivutha Kibwana and attended by Ms Waiguru, Ms Charity Ngilu (Kitui), Mr Francis Kimemia (Nyandarua), Mr Alex Tolgos (Elgeyo Marakwet), Mr Cornell Rasanga (Siaya), and Mr Stanley Kiptis (Baringo).

Other attendants included deputy governors and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.

Ms Waiguru, who is the deputy chairperson of the Council of Governors, announced that the maiden summit will be held annually to enable county bosses learn from each other's successes and failures.

Governor Ngilu urged her colleagues to maximize the benefits of regional blocs and inter-county collaborations on trade and investment.

IMPEACHMENT MOTION

The governors lauded Prof Kibwana’s development model in which the county consults the public and uses them to oversight projects, a model the World Bank representatives said was a way of curbing corruption.

They further praised him for persevering an ouster motion in his first term to accomplish several development milestones.

Mr Rasanga recounted how he almost lost his re-election bid despite initiating development projects.

"I have since learned that if you make a road without public participation you are doing nothing," he said, sparking applause.

On his part, Mr Kiptis singled out financial and geographical challenges as impediments to conducting public participation activities in his region.

DEVOLUTION

The governors toured projects such as the fruit processing plant, Kwa Mbila earth dam and the referral hospital.

They later addressed a public rally at Wote Bus Park.

"Sometimes I look at the idea of devolution initiated at independence in Kenya, and when I see the gains we have been able to make within half a decade, I see a wasted opportunity.

"We should not have discontinued the devolution framework we had at independence. But that is now history. We should secure the future through the governors' peer learning summit," Prof Kibwana said.