• The government has been promising to crack the whip and has often reiterated that there are no sacred cows.
• Kenyans have been seeing some sacred cows. So taking the unprecedented action is a positive thing.
The arrest of the suspects is a positive step. The government has been promising to crack the whip and has often reiterated that there are no sacred cows.
In fact, the President himself has said that there are no sacred cows in his administration, but Kenyans have been seeing some sacred cows. So taking the unprecedented action is a positive thing.
Then the only thing that one may ask now is how the DPP Noordin Haji will prosecute these cases in such a manner that will end up in convictions and recovery of assets.
The recovery of assets is in another docket all together but ultimately the two go hand in hand. For the successful fight against corruption, apart from just jailing people, stolen assets should be recovered. So this is an opportunity for the DPP to prosecute and recover the assets.
This could go either way. If these suspects are acquitted, it will be a major blow to the fight against corruption. If the opposite happens and the suspects are convicted and jailed and the assets recovered, it will definitely boost the fight against corruption.
In all the [corruption index] reports that we have done, Kenyans have had the feeling that the government has not been serious in the fight against corruption. There has not been any commitment on the part of the government to fight corruption. That is the perception that Kenyans have felt.
Kenyans are allowed to be sceptical because they are coming from a position and history where politically and economically influential are given amnesty in the fight against graft by the government. But I think the only way to end Kenyans perception, is when things are done differently.
If the DPP can deliver convictions in the majority of the cases that he is pursuing in court, then the view of Kenyans will definitely change. So, the perception is based on experience and if the investigative agencies can deliver convictions, especially of the so-called big fish, then it will obviously change.
So we hope that the DPP, DCI and EACC have done proper investigations that will ensure the suspects are convicted.
The Transiency International, Kenya executive director spoke to the Star