The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) yesterday said that corruption had intensified under the watch of the county governments.
NCCK clerics said in Mombasa that they were disillusioned "that the ogre of corruption has mutated in the new order", undermining public service and hampering economic development.
"It now appears to be more lethal in our devolved units as local thieves have owners who not only benefit from their loot but also control votes, are able to hold county leaders to ransom," said NCCK Secretary General, Canon Peter Karanja, during the church leaders conference at Jumuia Conference Beach Resort in Kilifi County.
Entrenched tribalism
NCCK said the counties had also entrenched tribalism and nepotism with some governors employing their relatives.
But Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya defended the county governments, saying the issue of corruption had been blown out of proportion.
Munya, who is also the Meru Governor, said he will book an appointment with Auditor General Edward Ouko to seek clarification on his recent audit report.
"The problem is the difficulty of condensing stories of 47 counties into one. I cannot deny that there is corruption in the counties. There is transformation going on at the counties that is never reported," said Munya.
