What the President should do to win war on corruption

At a recent State House summit on governance and accountability, the President confirmed one thing among others: that he had no political spine to fight the vice of corruption.

The President blamed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for submitting to his office an “unreliable” list of persons suspected to be corrupt which he acted on and lost political capital. Further, he derided the Auditor-General for discharging the mandate of his office which is: to audit Government bodies and report on their management of public funds more specifically Euro-Bond money. In the president‘s view, the Auditor-General‘s continued search for information and proof of accountability was inappropriate and unwarranted.

However, accountability is a duty of an individual or organization (Government) to explain the use of money and other entrusted property deployed in its activities, accept responsibility for the activities, and disclose the results of those activities in a transparent manner. That being the case, and with utmost respect to Mr. President, neither the Government nor individuals within Government establishment can be set free from this duty. If, at any point in time we think that this scenario is possible then, we exempt or free ourselves from just punishment and that is flouting the rule of law with impunity.

Valuable time and steps have been missed in the fight against corruption but, all is not lost yet. The President will have to content with the fact that in the game of power relations, “The Prince must be a lion, but he must also know how to play the fox “(Machiavelli).

Corruption is a major global industry; it is now a lifestyle in our country; it is a "virtue“ not a vice and so we must not give up the fight. We must crush key drivers and sustainers of corruption. Our body politic should be the foremost target of the renewed fight against corruption because: our politics is rooted in financial and moral corruption; it generates corruption; is sustained and preserved by corruption; and it insulates the corrupt against justice. The reconstitution of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is underway.

The President should, on behalf of Kenya nation, even if it costs him personal political capital, guarantee total implementation of Chapter Six of the Constitution on Leadership and Integrity hence, all persons who do not meet the thresholds prescribed do not, ever, get anywhere near our body politic. This is an urgent significant step of sanitizing body politic and fight corruption.