We have sung anti-graft song for too long, we are tired of it

A few days ago, someone sent me a newspaper cutting dated Saturday, January 20, 1968. The headline read, “Government pledge to crush corruption.” It also had a tagline that read, “Vice President Moi asks Kenyans to hand in information.” That was 50 years ago, today – in point of fact slightly over. Then, as now, the government was vowing to fight corruption but doing nothing about it.

The 1968 report said that the Vice President was responding to concerns that had been raised in Parliament about corruption in government. It read in part, “Speaking on a motion of adjournment… he said it would be far better if individuals who had information on the subject passed it on to the government instead of going to the Press. The Vice President said that every individual had a right to report to the government cases in which ministers or high-ranking government officials took advantage of their positions to indulge in corrupt practices. Action would be taken, he said.”