Soon, the drumbeats of political positioning will get louder. Already, there is a flurry of activities on the political scene with parties and aspirants laying strategies ahead of next year’s General Election.
In the mix of this political whirlwind is a retinue of sacked or suspended state or public officers battling graft allegations by statutory bodies. My submission is that elective positions must not be used to ‘launder’ disgraced public servants.
It would be an abuse of the intelligence of Kenyans if people declared unsuitable to hold public offices plunge into the electoral scene.
The sanctity of our vote, which is basically a tool to exercise our democratic rights by choosing a leadership that represents our interests as citizens, cannot be used to “cleanse” people who have abused our trust in their previous jobs.
Kenyan voters must adhere to the tenets of integrity when voting in leaders. The voter must treat graft allegations against such officers as a show of impunity and disrespect to the same voter because of the abuse of trust bestowed on them by either the President or the appointing authority such as the Public Service Commission.
Quite tellingly, most of the yet to be cleared public servants have trained their eyes on the governorship, which is the fulcrum around which our devolution billions are distributed to the grassroots. This only reveals their insatiable thirst to lay their hands on public coffers.
Electing a graft-stricken officer to a public office is akin to transferring a malignant tumour from one part of the body to the other. We must not be hood-winked by such officers in their spirited effort to self-preservation through the ballot.
In previous elections, we have seen the political class muzzle statutory bodies rendering them incapable of reigning aspirants who are embroiled in straight cases of lack of integrity.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations must now realise they are integral players in clearing the way for installation of a leadership with integrity.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) must also unshackle itself from being a captive of powerful political forces. IEBC must rise above mere intimidation by the political class which often forces them to act leniently against leaders who, if the law was followed to the letter, should not vie.
This is a testing time for our institutions. Those named in graft must be accorded a fair hearing in good time so that the verdict on their culpability can be given out early enough. Those who will not have succeeded in proving their accusers wrong must be edged out of the electoral process.
Otherwise, the voters ought to take it upon themselves and reject graft-ridden aspirants.
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