High-profile people in government are deliberately frustrating prosecution of graft cases, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has said.
Chairman Eliud Wabukala said on Wednesday those involved in the cases have taken large sums of money.
He spoke in Nairobi during the signing of an MoU with religious institutions on creating awareness on corruption.
Wabukala said the commission has tried to make strides in prosecuting the cases but its hands are tied due to limited resources.
“These people who are mentioned in these cases have a lot of money. They have made prosecution very expensive that before you launch investigations, they go ahead and buy the best lawyers in the country and have all the networks to frustrate the efforts of the commission,” he said.
Wabukala was responding to the Editors’ Guild chairman Linus Kaikai, who criticised the commission for taking Kenyans for a ride on the war on graft.
Unless the commission showed commitment on fighting graft by prosecuting high profile cases, then it is playing mere PR with Chapter Six of the Constitution on integrity, Kaikai said.
“The commission must appreciate the frustration of Kenyans on the issue of corruption. Your scorecard is in bad shape. It is not about arresting a traffic police officer in a funny drama, but you must take up a high-level corruption suspect to court and the hope to win the war will begin there,” he said.
Wabukala said the commission is over-stretched with many cases and it has few officers.
It has, however, prevented the theft of Sh1.6 billion in public funds, he said.