Govt to incorporate war on corruption in performance contracting

By PSCU

Nairobi, Kenya: The fight against corruption will henceforth be part of government performance contracting, to ensure the war on graft takes hold in the public sector, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.

The President noted that corruption remained the greatest barrier to Kenya’s social and economic development and it was time to scale up the war against the vice.

President Kenyatta spoke when he met the members of the National Anti-Corruption Steering Committee (NACCSC) who paid him a courtesy call at State House Nairobi today.

“There is no dignity in corruption, and we must work together to change the mentality”, the President said, adding that the time was ripe for school curricula to incorporate values that would help in the fight against graft.

The President emphasised that his government would pursue a two-pronged strategy, with prosecution punishing the culprits, and civic education informing the public of the government’s progress.

President Kenyatta also lauded the crucial role played by the National Anti-Corruption Steering Committee, as the fight against graft had saved the government money.

“You have done a lot of good to the country for the last decade, and I encourage you to continue in the same spirit. We will ensure that the committee has the full membership of 35”, he said.

His government, he promised the NACCSC, would look into its budget and other long-term aspects of its operations, to assist in the effective execution of its mandate.

The NACCSC team was also assured that he would meet it every six months to review its progress.

Speaking at the same occasion, Deputy President William Ruto said that the government appreciated the NACCSC’s role in public awareness campaigns targeting the common man, and would provide all necessary support in fulfilment of its mandate.

The NACCSC chairperson, ACK Archbishop Eliud Wabukala said his committee’s mandate focused on educating the public on the benefits of a corruption-free society and write a report to the President every three months.

The ACK Archbishop thanked the Government for supporting the committee’s work and requested for an extension of it’s term from three to five years.

“The campaign is nationwide, Our mandate is speaking to Kenyans at public barazas, conducting media programmes in the anti-corruption drive against procurement malpractices and research to keep ourselves abreast with new technics,” he said.

Enumerating the committee’s mandate, the chairman said his team monitored 2007 and 2013 general elections. He added that the committee also engaged in tree planting as some of the conflicts that lead to graft are associated with environmental degradation.

He announced plans to visit all the 47 counties to support the devolved governments so that ‘we do not devolve corruption’. Plans are under way to set up anti-corruption oversight committees in ministries as the current set-up is amenable to intimidation, he added.

Archbishop Wabukala requested funding increase from the current sh. 90 million to sh. 280m.

“My committee works closely with the anti-corruption commission. Decision to move the committee to the Attorney General’s chambers has given it a higher profile,” he added.