Witness interference major challenge to EACC

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Eliud Wabukala in Nakuru on Monday. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

Witness interference by perpetrators of corruption is a major challenge to the anti-graft agency, an official has said.

Dabar Abdi Maalim, a commissioner with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), said this has made it difficult for the officers to conclude cases.

“There have been cases where watertight evidence is available but witnesses withdraw, sometimes on very flimsy grounds. Perpetrators of corruption are mainly the wealthy and they use their resources to dissuade witnesses from testifying,” said Dr Maalim.

The commissioner, who spoke at a workshop that brought together faith-based organisations, said the anti-graft body has been able to investigate 75 per cent of the corruption cases reported this year.

EACC Chairman Eliud Wabukala said: "The Government has established a good institutional framework in the fight against graft but there is a need to make the laws tighter for the agencies to effectively deal with the vice.

“The country can tackle cases of corruption but our weakness remains in the legal framework, which needs to be made watertight.” He said the fight against corruption should not be viewed as the work of EACC alone.

Wabukala said there was a need for goodwill from all stakeholders if the country is to redeem itself from the rot brought about by corruption.