Graft war shouldn’t be lost in the din of succession fights

The Executive continues to speak strongly on the fight against corruption, the highlight being Thursday’s State of the Nation address by President Uhuru Kenyatta. Everyone acknowledges that the environment is ripe for the fight against graft, with the President having forged unity among political nemesis and the progress made on investigations and prosecutions. Unfortunately, the fight has taken a political trajectory that threatens to derail gains made so far. It’s noteworthy that progress has been made and there is a renewed sense of hope from Kenyans that the fight against graft has begun in earnest. There is, however, growing skepticism from certain quarters who cite political witch hunt.

The Executive needs to be careful that the fight doesn’t lose momentum and degenerate into a farce and blame game between various factions. The Executive needs to lead by example. Public appointments must be beyond reproach and within the standards of Chapter 6. Any attempt to appoint or retain public officers tainted with corruption will be a mockery to the fight against corruption. The Executive should be on the forefront in implementing and enforcing our national ethos, the ripple effect being that values will stop being abstract and instead core to service delivery in Kenya.