Do you support the proposal to disband current EACC?

EACC Chairman Eliud Wabukala. [BONIFACE OKENDO, STANDARD]

I think it is high time we did away with  the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which clearly has failed its core mandate of fighting graft. I am saying this because in the past few years, the Government has lost billions of shillings and continues to do so, yet the commission has not done much to safeguard the public resources as required.

Unlike other independent agencies in the country, the current EACC is run by a secretariat and not commissioners as it should be. The powerful secretariat calls the shots, which should not be the case. The cases of corruption currently in court have also exposed the commission as lacking capacity to do its work. In the past, they have also left mega graft suspect off the hook and even proceeded to clear some of the tainted individuals.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) alongside the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has done a pretty good job in ensuring the suspects are brought to book.

If you ask me, I think the DCI and DPP need to be empowered to do their work, having shown that they can really go after graft suspects, including those considered big fish.

There is no use in Treasury giving EACC huge budgetary allocations, yet they are not doing much as far as their mandate is concerned. That is not any different from flushing taxpayers money down the drain.

 

Mr Keter is the Nandi Hills MP