The newly appointed Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission boss, Twalib Mbarak will report on duty on January 11.
The announcement was made by EACC chairman Eliud Wabukala amid calls from the public for fresh vetting of the agency’s staff.
Mbarak will be on a six-year non-renewable term.
He is getting into office at a time when the confidence in the institution to fight corruption is low, with reports indicating some senior officials have turned the agency into a cash cow. Top on Kenyans’ expectations is the Sh5 billion scandal at the Ministry of Health.
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In October 2016, EACC deputy CEO Michael Mubea led a team of eight detectives to Afya House in Nairobi but since then, no questioning or prosecution has happened, at least in public knowledge.
In an internal audit report, auditor Bernard Muchere revealed the cash was lost through irregular payments to companies associated with influential personalities in the political and business class. In the 2017-18 annual report, EACC said it received and analysed 6,235 reports/complaints out of which 2,898 fell within its mandate, while the remainder were referred to other agencies for action.
In the same year, 426 reports on violations of Chapter Six of the Constitution were received, out of which 154 were analysed and completed.
“Consequently, 183 files on corruption and economic crime were finalised and submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. From these, 135 were recommended for prosecution, 14 for administrative action and 34 for closure. The Commission also forwarded four case files on ethical breaches to the ODPP. Forty-nine cases were finalised in court resulting in 39 convictions and 10 acquittals,” EACC said in the report tabled in Parliament.
It also noted that in the same year, the Commission traced 14 illegally acquired public assets estimated at Sh2.3 billion and the recovery is ongoing. Assets valued at approximately Sh352 million were recovered through court process and out-of-court settlement and 26 applications for preservation of assets estimated at Sh2.6 billion were made.
“In addition, the Commission carried out 12 proactive covert investigations, averting a possible loss of public funds estimated at Sh4.2 billion,” the report said.