Phillip Kinisu’s exit and the hard lessons it offers

A recommendation by Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that the embattled Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Phillip Kinisu be sacked bore fruit yesterday after Mr Kinisu threw in the towel.

It was clearly in the interest of the public that Mr Kinisu had to do the right thing by resigning. The charges against him seriously undermined his credibility. Corruption is expensive to Kenya. A staggering quarter of a million jobs are lost each year due to corruption. And so the man charged with slaying the dragon ought to be, like Caesar’s wife, beyond reproach.

Esaki Ltd, a company associated with Mr Kinisu and where he once served as a director, received a Sh35 million payment in 2014 from the Health ministry, something Mr Kinisu acknowledged and sought to justify by stating that Esaki Ltd conducted legitimate business with the Government.

In contention was the manner in which the tender award was given and the quick pace of the payment. Also, between March 2015 and June 2016, the Devolution ministry paid Sh246 million to Esaki Ltd. This was the time that the National Youth Service fraudulently lost Sh791 million and which the EACC has been investigating. This raised concerns about an apparent conflict of interest.

There is a high threshold for personal integrity demanded of the office holders of the chairman of EACC, which Mr Kinisu failed to meet. Mr Kinisu’s exit demonstrates that sometimes it is prudent to take personal responsibility for acts of omission and commission and that when it comes to public office, accountability is not negotiable.

So even as a replacement for Mr Kinisu is sought, the role of vetting by Parliament comes into sharp focus. The National Assembly risks becoming a rubber stamp of sorts. Mr Kinisu was vetted and certified clean by those same MPs who have turned around to vilify and condemn him. If they wanted to, they would have sought those facts and thereby save the country the agony of another search for the head of EACC.