What if Uhuru orders DCI and DPP to go slow on anti-graft crackdown?

President Uhuru Kenyatta announced last week he was returning to Nairobi after days of seclusion in the coastal city of Mombasa.

The President’s retreat to the coast had sent tongues wagging about his political intentions, propelled by speculation that he had held a secret meeting with opposition leader Raila Odinga at some point.

And since the March 9 handshake, any story about the two leaders is hardly complete without an allusion to a looming Cabinet reshuffle in which Mr Odinga’s people will be co-opted into government to replace those allied to you know who. It might well come to pass.

FRANTIC PHONE CALLS

However, a more plausible guess to me is that Mr Kenyatta went into seclusion to try to remain above the fray of the anti-corruption crackdown in Nairobi that has seen a number of fat cats arrested and charged in court.

There was also the political conflagration in the Rift Valley ignited by the Mau Forest evictions that threatened to consume his Jubilee Party and saw some fire flames blown in his direction.

It is not far-fetched to imagine frantic phone calls having been made or appointments having been sought with the President at State House, Nairobi to try to stop the arrests, prosecutions or evictions.

POLITICAL PATRONAGE

Some juicy gossip around the time had it that one of the graft suspects, having learnt about his impending arrest, decided to take the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives in a daylong chase around the city, including an embarrassing stopover at some prominent address.

The suspect is said to have only turned himself in the next day after he realised to his consternation that even his political patron couldn’t protect him from the long arm of the law.

The withdrawal of political patronage for suspects is no doubt the biggest boost to the war on corruption spearheaded by DCI director George Kinoti and Noordin Haji, the Director Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the past two months.

INDEPENDENT INSTITUTIONS

Hallelujah! Even the hitherto toothless Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission got its bark, dusting off some case files it has kept for ages and making high-profile arrests.

For all the buzz the ongoing graft crackdown has created, its apparent overreliance on the politics of the day should also be a cause of worry for Kenyans as well.

What if the President, having come out of seclusion, signals the DCI, the DPP and the EACC to stop? What if the suspects reclaim their political patronage? What if the handshake falls apart? What if the next President doesn’t make the fight against corruption a priority of his administration?

Well, it just means that this is a risky war that is crying out for an insurance policy in form of independent institutions.

The war against corruption is simply too important to be left to the mood swings or personal preferences of a single politician, including the President.

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