Murang'a religious leaders want the national government to declare corruption a national disaster and stamp it out.
They said on Wednesday that "it's distressing to regularly hear of grand theft of public resources to the detriment of development.
The leaders were speaking at Murang’a Catholic Cathedral during a County Dialogue.
While commending government efforts, the religious leaders said the war on graft has been dragging on for too long.
The clerics asked the government to draft legislation imposing life sentences on those convicted of grave corruption offences.
They also asked the Assets Recovery Agency to swiftly seize the properties of suspects, saying only stern measures will deter others.
The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission, they said, should be accorded more powers even at the county level and be given investigative and prosecutorial mandates.
Led by Murang’a South ACK Bishop Julius Karanu, the leaders who included Muslim leaders, also called on all public officers to publicly declare their wealth annually.
“We want all public officers vetted before assuming office and the findings made public,” Karanu said.
They said traffic police officers should use CCTV cameras and remove roadblocks to reduce corruption.
Both national and county governments were also asked to automate revenue collection systems to seal loopholes.
The clergy also asked the government to reduce the number of seats in the National Assembly through a constitutional change.
The current number of leaders is a burden on the taxpayer, they said.
“The national and county governments should both reduce their ministries to control the rising wage bill and accelerate service delivery,” the Bishop added.
They called on the government to reconstitute the IEBC with only three commissioners and strengthen its secretariat.
The leaders also want the National Assembly and Senate to swiftly agree on the Division of Revenue Bill to allow the disbursement of funds to counties.
“We are yet to see the fruits of devolution due to the slow transfer of funds from the Treasury and rampant corruption in county governments,” Karanu said.
They called for all county workers to employed on performance contracts.
(Edited by V.Graham)
