Life public office ban for graft lords, health commission

Proposals for graft lords to be barred from public office for life, an independent commission to oversee the health sector and public service salary harmonisation were presented to a constitutional reform team yesterday.

Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS) and Youth for Building Bridges Initiative, gave their views to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) task force in Nairobi on Wednesday.

The law society called for the amendment of the Constitution to provide that all corruption-related cases be concluded within six months and those implicated jailed and barred from holding any office for life. It also wants stolen money recovered to help in the fight against corruption.

“We want laws that have a time frame for enforcement. If we had this, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) could not be operating without commissioners for two years. As it is now, the commission can’t even hold the much-awaited referendum because it is not fully-constituted,” LSK said.

The society also wants Judicial Service Commission (JSC) reformed and its composition reduced to have two judges and two lawyers; PSC slot to be given to an employee from Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Chief Justice, two members of the public and the Attorney General. Currently, JSC has four members from the judiciary.

The society wants the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) given a full constitutional organisation status, arguing that the commission does not fall into constitutional bodies and offices category.

“We propose that Kenya National Human Rights Commission, National Gender and Equality Commission and Commission on Administrative Justice to be collapsed into one and focus on advocating for rights of Kenyans,” LSK said.

Bad name

Daniel Yumbya, chief executive officer of KMPDC, said quacks had given the profession a bad name, but a new law coming into force in January would deal with the menace.

“I have a case where I closed three clinics in Huruma and the owner arrested. In two days, he paid Sh30,000 fine and reopened the clinics. But from January, the new Medical Act, 2019 has raised the fine to a maximum of Sh5 million. Again, we will only register private doctors with indemnity cover for themselves, their staff and premises,” Yumbya said.

Jerry ole Kina from the UKCS decried the disparity and wastage in the public service and called for harmonisation. “Today, we have a Permanent Secretary who earns a salary that can pay 13,000 subordinate staff, yet does very little.”