EACC: Four governors to face corruption charges

Four governors and two officers from independent commissions may be arraigned in court next week over corruption-related charges.

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) CEO Halakhe Waqo on Wednesday told MPs the commission had pieced together water-tight evidence to nail the six and others from the various ministries and State agencies in the ongoing crackdown on graft.

Also being investigated is the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) and the latest probe at Kenya Pipeline Company.

The anti-corruption body has already sent files of the suspects to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji for review, and should he give the the nod, the suspects could be arrested and presented to court as early next week.

Dwindling confidence

Mr Waqo told the Senate's Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee that despite the dwindling confidence levels by the public, the commission is doing much with little resources.

Waqo said in the last one year they had successfully prosecuted 35 cases with 31 going for convictions and four acquittals.

However, Waqo attributed the low conviction rate for cases to the inadequacies of the special anti-corruption magistrates to effectively and expeditiously deal with cases of corruption and economic crimes pending in courts.

“There are only two judges appointed to the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes division of the High Court. In addition, the judges and magistrates dealing with corruption cases are also allocated other cases,” said Waqo.

He told the committee that in order to effectively deal with corruption cases, there was need to re-look the Evidence and Economic Crimes Act and the Bribery Act to conform to the emerging technological dynamics.

Waqo said the commission lacked the necessary powers to compel public institutions to comply with recommendations upon corruption risk assessments and reviews into their systems and procedures.

The EACC official admitted that they had been sidelined in the ongoing National Youth Service (NYS) II investigation, but said they wiould back the prosecuting institution and provide more evidence.

But Waqo was hard-pressed to explain why, in the last six years at the commission, no tangible prosecution of a high-profile case had been prosecuted and led to conviction.

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jrn challenged the anti-graft boss to explain why in its 30 convictions they had managed to prosecute, nearly all were petty crimes of offenders who received bribes of between Sh1,000 and Sh10,000.

“We are yet to see people who have stolen millions of shillings being prosecuted,” said the senator.

New synergy

The committee, led by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, also asked EACC Chairman retired Anglican Archbishop Eliud Wabukala to show why Parliament allocated billions of shillings to the commission to go for the mega graft suspects with little success.

Dr Wabukala said the new-found synergy between EACC, office of the DPP and the Judiciary would help in prosecution of the high-profile cases.

“We are now working seamlessly with the office of the DPP and the Judiciary. We ask the cooperation of Parliament and other Kenyans to help us deal with corruption cases,” said the retired prelate.

According to EACC, they have recovered illegally acquired assets worth Sh7.7 billion and traced a further Sh4.9 billion.