Lobby groups stage anti-graft protest

Lobby groups defied intimidation from unknown individuals to continue with planned demonstrations against corruption in Nairobi and Nakuru yesterday.

The lobby groups, which included Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Nairobi People’s Settlement Network, staged a peaceful street protest over the runaway corruption in the country.

The protesters, who were mostly youth dressed in red T-shirts, went round chanting freedom songs and demanding for the recovery of all the money that has been lost to corruption.

Deputy Executive Director at KHRC Davis Malombe said this was the beginning of a big campaign that would ensure that money lost to corruption was recovered.

“Corruption is the biggest violator of human rights. We lose so much resources to corruption, and until we recover what we have lost, we will not stop,” Mr Malombe said.

He said every time corruption suspects are arrested, they are taken to court and later released without anything being recovered.

Threats

Activist Mildred Owiso, the organisers of the protests, had been receiving threats through phone calls from unknown individuals.

In Nakuru, dozens of protestors took their petitions to the regional offices of the Director of Criminal Investigations, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, National Youth Service and the Kenya Power.

In their petition, the protestors indicated the Corruption Perception Index had painted a gloomy picture of the country’s economy. “It is shocking that out of the more than Sh1 trillion budget, only a fraction is lawfully and effectively spent while the rest is looted,” their petition read in part.

They called for the sacking of those implicated in corruption.