With toothless watchdogs, Kenyans are on their own in corruption fight

Kenya: First it was the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament; then the Law Society of Kenya. These are the organizations charged with ensuring that justice is done, and that public funds are not misappropriated. They are examples of guardians who were found with their hands in the cookie jar.

Watchdog committees and organizations are being increasingly mentioned in relation to corrupt deals. How can we expect corruption to end when the very people charged with the responsibility of preventing it become partakers? In as much as all these are unproven accusations, they are still worrying. We do not expect the people charged with corruption to be the same ones to support any investigations into the charges. If anything, they would make sure that the investigations never go beyond ground level.

Kenyans have been praying and hoping that corruption would one day just go away. With the constitution, reconstitution, overhaul, and myriad other changes of various anti-corruption bodies, our hopes have gone up and down with constant frequency.

Many years ago, Trade Bank went under. It was a high tech bank with many ideas that had come well before their time. It was the first Kenyan bank (and last as far as I know) to introduce drive-in banking services at its state-of-the-art branch at Valley Road. We all know that as it was placed under liquidation, the Government took over its assets, including the Valley Road building. It is this same building that is today known as “Integrity Centre”. It houses the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

For those of us who read and heard about the corrupt deals Trade Bank was involved in prior to its collapse, we thought it was fitting for its assets to be used in the fight against corruption. It was therefore surprising to read recently that the EACC does not actually own the building but is a mere tenant. It is not even owned by any Government department. Integrity Centre is owned by a private company which refuses to renew the lease once it expires.

My question is; when was Integrity Centre sold by the Government? When did the custodians of Public funds and property become the major consumers? Who will protect Kenyans from the greed that is ravaging us from the highest offices? Kenyans, I think we are on our own in the fight against corruption. We can only promise ourselves as individuals that we will not be drawn into the gravy train. God help us!