EACC cites departments of health as most corrupt in counties

Narok Deputy Governor Evalyn Aruasa and EACC commissioner Dr Dabar Maalim at Enashipai Lodge in Naivasha during a two day consultative workshop for senior officers from Narok county. EACC said that it had so far received over 4,000 corruptions claims from different counties.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has cited departments of health in counties as the most corrupt.

 The commission noted that with the huge budget allocated to the department is had emerged there were many unhand deals mainly in the procurement exercise.

In the findings, the level of corruption in county health services stood at 37.4 per centfollowed by that of public works and services at 22.5 per cent.

Departments of Education and child care came third at 15 percent followed by finance and economic planning which stood at 8.6 percent in the indices.

According to EACC commissioner Dr. Dabar Maalim, departments of water and lands were least corrupt at 7.8 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.

Maalim said the figures sampled from residents across all counties who expressed dismay in the manner in which the sectors listed were carrying out their duties.

“While we admit that a lot has been realized in the first cycle of devolution much more remains undone as a consequence of the corruption and mismanagement of public resources in the counties,” he said.

He said the Commission had also witnessed an upsurge of reports on corruption and unethical conduct from the county governments.

Maalim said by the end of 2017 at least 100 county officials were charged in court with various corruption and unethical conduct offences.

During the same period, Maalim said the commission had received a total of 4,242 reports on corruption and unethical conduct involving counties with 3,243 cases taken up for investigations.

“These reports range from embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest, tribalism, nepotism and cronyisms in the appointment of staff in key sections,” he said.

Maalim was speaking to the press when he opened a two day Capacity Building workshop on Leadership and Integrity for County Executive Committee members of Narok County at Enashipai Resort in Naivasha.

He said the commission was carrying out trainings to the county executives as one way of dealing with corruption at the county level.

“The aim should be to create a culture of integrity within the county public service and at all levels of the organization by continuously auditing and improving on the systems,” he said.

Narok Deputy Governor Evelyn Aruasa said the county had been ranked the least in corruption indexes saying they were making efforts to ensure the vice is wiped out completely.

“As a result we have established a fully-fledged directorate of ethics and anti-corruption affairs and we are in the process of equipping it to be able to perform its duties as required by law,” Aruasa said.