Why Kenya faces the danger of state capture by free felons in this election

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i: There is a danger in electing crooks.  [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Two months ago, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i sounded an alarm that intelligence reports showed that unusually high numbers of suspected criminals were planning to contest seats in the August 9 General Election.

He spoke of the possibility of up to 40 per cent of elective seats being won by criminals relying on massive bribery and suspect funds. In his own words: If we are not careful, by the time we are done with this electoral cycle, we would’ve laundered criminals into our elective institutions – even up to about 40 per cent. These include money launderers, “wash wash” players, drug dealers and others because they’re the only ones who can access that amount of money.