President Uhuru Kenyatta should be commended for his U-turn and resolve in the fight against corruption.
For the better part of his first term 2013-2017, there was little action and progress in the fight against corruption. As a matter of fact, the president was perceived to be protecting those accused of engaging in corruption.
After the 2017 elections, the president has shown a rare political will sacrificing friends. He has said as much that his stand against corruption is going to cost him friends. But overall he stands to be commended because it’s in the fight against corruption that his legacy rests.
The agencies mandated with the fight against corruption are also doing a commendable job but finally what we want to see are convictions and asset recovery. It is not enough to arraign people day in day out in courts.
We want to believe the fight against corruption will be backed by professional and thorough investigations to get the kind of convictions that we saw with former nominated senator Joy Gwendo last week.
The President's resolve should also be a signal to those close to him in terms of power hierarchy that you cannot support the government on all matters except the fight against corruption. People should not see the fight as a witch-hunt against their cronies or communities.
It is not right for anybody to be seen to be running his own grudges separately somewhere in a corner yet they took an oath of office to protect the Constitution.
Moving forward the President needs to implement the Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) Act 2013 to create a more structured and coherent framework for civil societies and citizens to play their role effectively in the fight. Implementation of the act will help citizens engage, express freely and share information.
The government cannot win the war against corruption alone as purveyors of corruption are citizens in the form of business people or government officials and its citizens who leave with these corrupt fellows.
If citizens are engaged and participate fully the war on corruption will be half won.
The Civil Society Reference Group convener spoke to the Star