Investigative agencies should not yield to pressure in the war on corruption and should be given freedom to do the people's work, the US government has said on Thursday.
This was during a telephonic press briefing with Heather Merrit, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
"Let's face it, there are significant pressures on law enforcement and justice officials... when cases are significant, but I think it's really important they stay the course," ause," she said.
Merrit said that since corruption cases involved several jurisdictions, they were time-consuming and patience is required when dealing with them.
"Anti-corruption investigations are particularly complex. They tend to involve multiple jurisdictions because often corrupt officials are able to move assets among various jurisdictions within Kenya and other countries," she said.
The US official said corrupt individuals take advantage of jurisdictions with favourable tax laws to spend their ill-gotten wealth.
She said the US is working closely with the Kenyan government and there is increased focus to fight corruption, which the US encourages.
"Sometimes it is hard when you perceive from the outside that convictions are not coming fast enough but these cases are time-consuming and one has to be patient," she said.
Merrit recommended strengthening of anti-corruption institutions and training of investigators and the court to better fight graft.
However, a report by Africa Centre for Open Governance says the current anti-corruption approach is "largely tactical, too legalistic and prosecution-driven" and "will not yield the desired fruit".
The civil society report describes the government's efforts as part of the strategy that enables state capture.
The approach is also open to sabotage by counter-corruption narratives weaponised as a political tool in Jubilee's factional infighting, the report released on Wednesday says.
"High-profile arrests and indictments, aggressive repatriation attempts, re-vetting and suspending of procurement officers and revitalising and funding blue-ribbon multi-sectoral agencies have all been tried before and proven to be ineffectual," the report reads.
