Lock out aspirants who fail the integrity test

The need to enforce Chapter Six of the Kenya Constitution 2010 has never been more pronounced than now.

That is because we must guard against electing to office individuals whose overriding concerns are to feather their own nests at the expense of the public, or those who seek to protect ill-gotten wealth through holding powerful public offices.

A country’s capacity to develop is proportional to the integrity of those charged with leading it. In cases where the unscrupulous have the final say, corruption thrives, yet its negative impacts on the economy are there for all to see.

The Sh5 billion lost in the Afya House scam would probably have been put to good use and precluded the three-month long doctors’ strike that paralysed public hospitals across the country.

As election campaigns draw near, this is the high season for pledges yet, as the past bears witness, most of those who are quick to make promises have no intention of honouring them.

Such people have failed the test of integrity that demands State officers shall behave, in public or in private, in a manner that avoids any conflict between personal and official duties and that office holders must not behave in a manner that demeans the office they hold.

Some individuals whose conduct and past raises questions and doubt have indicated willingness to run for elective offices in August even as this contravenes the provisions of Chapter six of the Constitution on integrity. While some parties have raised the threshold, others are reluctant to do so.

It is comforting that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is working with other State offices like the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Judiciary and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to separate the wheat from the chaff so that Kenyans can have the best alternatives to choose from in the August 8 elections.