The government’s often stated commitment to fight corruption and economic crimes was amply demonstrated last week following three major actions by key players in public affairs.
It started with the arraignment in court of high profile suspects charged with various economic crimes at the High Court in Nairobi. Then followed National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi’s bold action to suspend the Public Accounts Committee headed by Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba.
But obscured by these overt acts was a move by the Public Service Commission to confer Cabinet Secretaries with greater responsibility in the execution of their administrative mandates. The net effect of this move, coming at the same time when the President was issuing fresh directives on public tenders, raises the threshold of culpability for individual Cabinet Secretaries in the event that economic crimes are committed in their line ministries.
Kenyans must take time and soberly reflect on the significance of all these actions. First was the public arraignment of high-profile Anglo Leasing suspects before the High Court in Nairobi — suspects who included a sitting Senator, two former permanent secretaries and businessmen. The subtext, which the President underlines, was that there will be no untouchables in the war on corruption.
With these actions and after 10 years of investigating the Anglo Leasing matter, it is hoped that the Director of Public Prosecutions will put together a water tight case and that the courts will ensure a speedy and fair trial for justice to be seen to be done. Kenyans may not have the patience of going through another tediously long trial like the Goldenberg cases that only secured a single guilty verdict after two decades of litigation.
The second significant action last week was the suspension of PAC, which is the people’s watchdog entrusted with providing checks on the Executive and ensuring public funds are well spent. In suspending PAC, Speaker Muturi was making a very bold statement; that the National Assembly has to maintain its credibility after the committee failed to attain the requisite majority to pass a no-confidence vote on its chairman.
The suspension of the venerated institution was inevitable given that some of its members had accused their chairman of taking bribes. The unfortunate drama did not end there and played out when the chairman responded by making counter claims that he had voice recordings of some of his members being offered bribes to let off lightly officials of public institutions PAC was probing. Once these claims were out in the open, it became untenable for PAC to continue operating, and the Speaker had little choice but suspend the watchdog committee.
The Speaker also banned the committee from holding meetings of any kind for three weeks until investigations are concluded. By recusing himself from heading the investigations as the chairman of the Powers and Privileges Committee and appointing Kuresoi North MP Moses Cheboi to take his place, Muturi demonstrated his determination to keep the investigation focused on the issues at hand and divorced from partisan voices that may hinder the investigative process.
He acted days before President Uhuru Kenyatta read the riot act to Cabinet Secretaries and said they would be held personally responsible for corrupt practices under their watch, and specifically the illegal awarding of tenders.
The President was spot on in his warning—the days of using public office as an avenue for personal enrichment are long gone. Just recently, the Public Service Commission conferred more authority to Cabinet Secretaries who will now be directly responsible for disciplining staff in their line ministries—including interdicting and suspending them.
They will also be directly responsible for managing the payroll. The upshot is that Cabinet Secretaries will now be in a position where they can be asked to account for corruption and malfeasance in their line ministries.
These efforts to contain runaway corruption within government must be applauded even as the public demands results from agencies tasked with bringing to book corrupt public servants.
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