•Top state and public officers could soon bid bye to their other employment and business activities if a new bill sails through.
•Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in a new draft bill, wants to stop wastage of resources and address conflict of interest among state and public employees.
Image: FILE
Public officers could soon be forced to quit their side jobs and business activities if a new bill is approved.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in a draft bill wants to address conflict of interest among state and public employees.
“EACC will come up with a draft which will be forwarded to Parliament for deliberation,” EACC deputy chief executive Michael Mubea told participants at a Machakos workshop last month.
Mubea's remarks follow President Uhuru Kenyatta’s order during the two-day Anti-Corruption Conference at Bomas of Kenya in January that those who hold public positions should not be players in the industry they regulate.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The President ordered Attorney General Paul Kihara to prepare a bill that would address the conflict of interest for public office holders.
EACC says there is a lacuna in the law as it does not draw a clear distinction between a state and a public officer.
In a statement, Mubea said the commission will bring on board other stakeholders to develop guidelines on the restriction of gainful employment for state and public officers under Section 26 of the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012.
“A state officer who is serving on a full-time basis shall not participate in any other gainful employment,” Section 26 states.
Article 77(1) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 provides that a full-time state officer shall not participate in any other gainful employment.
EACC said the provision is amplified by Section 26 of the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012 which states, “a state officer who is serving on a full-time basis shall not participate in any other gainful employment.”
The Constitution says “gainful employment” means work that a person can pursue and perform for money or other forms of compensation or remuneration which is inherently incompatible with the responsibilities of the state office or which results in the impairment of the judgment of the state office or results in a conflict of interest.
Presiding Judge of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes division of the High Court Hedwig Ong'udi who made a presentation titled Emerging Jurisprudence on the Employment Act said that a full-time state officer shall not participate in any other gainful employment as stipulated in the Constitution.
The judge noted that the law should be amended to eradicate avenues for moonlighting and help prevent wastage of resources.
“This is about ethics. What ethics do we have as public and state officers or even as individuals? Your conscience should tell you that what you are doing is wrong,” Justice Ong'udi said.
EACC said the constitution is, however silent on the distinction between officers serving full-time and those serving part-time.