Elect leaders with integrity, anti-graft body urges youth
MrJackson Sokoine an official of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) from the department of education and training in the South Rift Valley branch speaks to students and youth at St Paul’s University Nakuru City Campus on June 23, 2022.
The anti-graft watchdog has urged young people to help free the country from bad leadership by electing candidates who have passed the integrity test.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) also advised the youth to use social media platforms responsibly to bolster the fight against corruption.
Speaking at the Nakuru campus of St Paul's University during a forum on integrity ahead of the August 9 polls, EACC officials led by Mr Jackson Sokoine called on young people to turn up in large numbers and vote.
"The young people must participate in the forthcoming polls as they play a major role in shaping the future of this country," said Mr Sokoine.
He emphasised the need for the youth to elect leaders who have integrity, saying the EACC was committed to ensuring that leaders who participate have clean records.
"The commission has embarked on sensitisation tours across the country and will engage the youth on electoral integrity by holding talks with students in institutions of higher learning such as colleges and universities before the general election to create awareness on the need of electing leaders who have no baggage," Mr Sokoine said.
Some students urged the EACC to make use of social media to highlight issues of integrity as a way of fighting graft.
Mr Pius Agwata, a fourth-year journalism and mass communication student, cited the successful use of social media by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in tackling crime and urged the EACC to borrow a leaf from the DCI.
“Social media has become a powerful tool to disseminate information and a good example of a government institution that has successfully used the platform in its operations is the DCI. It's high time the commission makes use of this critical tool that is bearing fruit in the fight against crime," Mr Agwata said.
Mr Sokoine welcomed the suggestion and assured the students that the EACC was willing to work with the youth through such engagements by sharing ideas on curbing graft.
