Kenya’s private sector urged to take action on corrupt members enticing public officials

Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro (right) with Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Chairman Amb. Dennis Awori at the first day of the Speaker's Roundtable between the Senate and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) at Pride Inn Shanzu in Mombasa County on Friday 29th July 2016. PHOTO: KELVIN KARANI/STANDARD

MOMBASA: Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro has urged the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) to crack the whip on its rogue members perpetuating corruption in county governments, swindling the devolved units billions in collusion with county staff.

Ethuro lamented that counties had been taken hostage by corrupt contractors and businessmen who were working with elements within top levels of county executives cheating procurement processes to target billions that are being allocated to counties.

The Speaker told the leadership of the private sector that majority of these cartels were members of their alliance, hence the need on KEPSA to look at ways to punish those involved as a way of arresting graft.

“KEPSA members must not promote the acts of bribery. It must instead find ways of dealing with the monster,” said Ethuro.

The Speaker also said it was crucial for members of the legislature at both the national level and counties to delink themselves from holding developmental funds, saying members of the National Assembly must not be allowed to control the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

He said legislators must remain with their traditional role of conducting oversight, and thus granting them a kitty would defeat the purpose and thus enhance corruption.

Senators Kembi Gitura (Murang’a) Moses Wetangula (Bungoma) and Mombasa’s Hassan Omar said contractors and businessmen, who form the bulk of KEPSA, were the drivers of the devolved corruption, saying the body must look for ways of making it difficult for rogue and corrupt members to do business with public funds.

KEPSA Chairman Dennis Awori said the alliance had formulated a code of conduct and ethics for its membership, with those found to corruptly win business in both national and county government blacklisted.

The Alliance Director, Rita Kavashe, who is also the Managing Director of General Motors East Africa further said they had come up with the anti-bribery Bill, currently before the national assembly as they seek to arrest their member’s involvement in graft.

“We are also working with Treasury to ensure that these code of ethics forms part of the procurement laws so that those who have signed the code then earns more marks during competition for tenders. Meanwhile, those we find to be engaging in the vice, then we have resolved that we must blacklist them from doing business with the government, both national and county,” said Ms Kavashe.