Josphat Kinyua and Atieno Akumu @PeopleDailyKe
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) head Philip Kinisu yesterday expressed differing views from separate forums over the war on corruption even as the former hit out at the commission, terming it “petty”.
“The anti-graft agency has failed, Kenyans should not expect much from this body in terms of fighting the vice, the best option for now is to change everything for anything meaningful to be attained,” said Muturi.
Speaking at Karatina PCEA church during a fundraising event for Women’s Guild projects, the Speaker said it was time the graft body is restructured to allow it to investigate and prosecute serious economic crimes as opposed to petty crimes.
“Sometimes I wonder whether EACC is serious in its work. Why chase petty offenders with a lot of hype and leave out scams that have an impact on the economy?” he posed.
Political goodwill
But EACC chairman separately claimed that the political goodwill to fight corruption in the country was lacking. Addressing accountants at Voyager Beach Resort during the annual Institute of Certified Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) conference, Kinisu linked corruption to the loss of 70 per cent of public funds.
He challenged the State to take responsibility in ensuring the country does not experience a breakdown as had been experienced elsewhere in the world.
The anti-graft czar appealed to citizens to play an active role in fighting corruption, saying the innuendo that certain communities were being targeted when leaders are compelled to take accountability, should stop.
“It’s unfortunate that some leaders are escorted by members of their communities to EACC offices when summoned for investigations. As a society, we should rise above this and focus on achieving a corruption-free nation,” said Kinisu.
In Nyeri Muturi, who was accompanied by four Members of Parliament led by Mathira MP Peter Weru, said time had come for the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament to look afresh into the restructuring of the body to facilitate handling of petty corrupt crimes by other arms of policing units.
“We feel it’s demeaning for EACC officers to be seen chasing some corrupt petty offenders who do not have a great significance on the economy of this nation, I feel this can be done by other police units,” said Muturi.
He said more than 55,000 reports had been made by the body about investigations yet it had less than 200 investigators whom, he noted, “cannot effectively make any headway”.
The speaker thus called on the graft body to categorise offences that they investigate and avoid dealing with petty offenders. Muturi also criticised the Opposition for accusing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto of failure to curb corruption, saying there are constitution bodies that should deal with graft without dragging in the presidency.
His sentiment were echoed by Kieni MP Kanini Kega who accused EACC of prosecuting what he termed as “small fish” instead of dealing with serious economic crimes.
Kinisu, who was speaking under the theme; ‘Facing the Challenge of Ethical Governance in Kenya’, said EACC was committed to performing its mandate in which he declared there would be no ‘sacred cow’. He said they would not allow ‘big fish’ to escape the law by implicating the so called ‘small fish’ in corrupt deals perpetuated by them.
However, he lamented that the institution was currently under-staffed noting that despite the numerous cases brought forward for investigation, there were only about 170 investigators.
This, he said, was derailing the process of prosecuting suspects in major and minor corruption cases, a situation he wants urgently addressed. Kinisu also said that the State would recover assets acquired corruptly.
At the same time, he said the war on graft was far from being won, citing cartels of powerful institutions and individuals who are not easy to identify since they operate in parodies.
The post Speaker, EACC boss differ over failure to eradicate graft appeared first on Mediamax Network Limited.