State of the Nation: Ruto on Corruption: Carry your own cross
President William Ruto delivers his State of the Nation address at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on November 21, 2024.
President William Ruto has blamed State agencies for bungling the fight against corruption.
In his State of the Nation address on Thursday, he also accused Members of Parliament (MPs) of frustrating the passage of the Conflict of Interest Bill designed to curb the vice.
Dr Ruto blamed the National Assembly and the Senate for intentionally ‘watering down’ key provisions of the Conflict of Interest Bill, 2023, denying the nation the much-needed tools to fight corruption.
His address comes after Kenyans, led by religious leaders, called upon the government to curb run-away corruption eating up the country’s resources.
The Conflict of Interest Bill was introduced last year and aims to stop public officers from having one leg in public service and another in private practice.
But the MPs and senators tampered with some provisions giving public officers, including MPs, governors, ministers, principal secretaries and parastatal chiefs, a free pass to openly bag State contracts.
They also quashed provisions that prohibited government officers from seeking tenders with public entities and others that required regular declaration of wealth, including of their spouses and children, to curb unexplained accumulation of wealth.
Governors, MPs and ministers have in the past been prosecuted on graft charges related to the influence of multibillion-shilling tenders.
Conflict of interest
But the Head of State in his address accused the MPs of having a conflict of interest by altering the key provisions in the bill.
“It is also unacceptable for the Houses of Parliament to deny the nation a much-needed instrument in the war on corruption by continuing to sabotage the passage of the Conflict of Interest Bill.
“I implore you, Honourable members, to stop dragging your feet on this Bill unless, my friends, there is a conflict of interest in the passing of the conflict of interest legislation,” he said.
The utterances by the Head of State come a few days after he appointed a number of prominent figures accused of corruption, including former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero to Chair the Kenya National Trading Corporation.
The Director of Public Prosecutions was also put on the spot over the dropping of high-profile graft cases.
For instance, the DPP shelved charges against Tharaka-Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, former CS Najib Balala, and ex-governors Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) and Mike Sonko (Nairobi).
The DPP also declined to pursue the former Kirinyaga Deputy Governor Peter Ndambiri and his close family members in a conflict of interest case as well as an alleged multi-million shillings tender scam at the National Youth Service.
“It cannot be the case that the director of public prosecutions keeps dropping cases because, somehow, they are unable to produce witnesses,” Dr Ruto said.
The Head of State also threw jabs at the courts for dishing out anticipatory bail and delays in the resolution of corruption-related cases.
“It also cannot be the case that corruption suspects rush to court to obtain anticipatory bail, which shields them from due process and enables them to compromise investigations.
“There is also no reason for corruption cases to drag on in our courts for years when the same courts are able to determine election petitions and related disputes within six months,” Dr Ruto said.
The President also directed the National Treasury to operationalise electronic procurement for all State agencies by the end of the first quarter of next year in an effort to curb corruption.
“Of the many difficult assignments I have undertaken, this fight against corruption is one I now take on with resolve going forward. Let this serve as notice to all.
“Independent institutions charged with this responsibility must up their game, pull up their socks and match up to the expectations of the people of Kenya,” he added.
