- In 2018, President ordered lifestyle audits of all senior procurement and finance officials. It is not clear if the order was obeyed and the audits conducted.
- Currently, there is no legal framework proving how a lifestyle audit should be carried out on public or state officers.
Image: PILI CHIMERAH
Public and state officers will undergo a mandatory lifestyle audit after senators unanimously approved a bill on wealth reviews.
The Lifestyle Audit Bill, 2021, which seeks to ensure government officers account for their wealth, now awaits the endorsement of the National Assembly before it’s presented to the President for assent.
The bill, sponsored by Nominated Senator Farhiya Ali, provides a legal framework for the lifestyle audit to boost the war against graft.
While debating the bill, senators said the proposed law will help the anti-graft agencies unearth public officials who use public resources to enrich themselves.
Majority Leader Senator Samuel Poghisio said the bill will assist the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission, Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in tackling corruption and other related economic crimes.
“Let people who have obtained monies corruptly feel the heat and know that there is a law that is going after them,” Poghisio said.
Despite promises and calls for public officials to undergo the audit, this has never happened.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto had promised to take the lead but the audit has never been undertaken.
In 2018, the President ordered lifestyle audits of all senior procurement and finance officials. It is not clear if the order was obeyed and the audits conducted.
Currently, there is no legal framework proving how a lifestyle audit should be carried out on public or state officers.
The approval of the bill comes in the wake of leaked Pandora papers alleging the President and his families own offshore companies.
The President downplayed the papers saying they will usher in a new age of financial transparency and openness not only in Kenya but also globally.
The bill gives Kenya Revenue Authority, EACC and the Public Service Commission powers to conduct the audit.
It also gives members of the public the leeway to file complaints to the agencies on an unexplained wealth of public or state officers.
Further, it compels the EACC, KRA and PSC to publish the income, assets and liabilities declared by individuals facing the audit.
It gives amnesty to individuals who volunteer to surrender illegally acquired wealth, stating that they will not be prosecuted.
There will be amnesty for individuals who volunteer to surrender illegally acquired wealth. They will not be prosecuted.
Those who give false information will be liable to imprisonment for two years or a fine of not less than Sh5 million.
Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang said the bill should help the country know public and state officers keen to use public resources to enrich themselves.
“The President said that the Pandora Papers will lift the lid on those who have ill-gotten wealth and those who have stashed proceeds of crime, money laundering, ivory trade and all sorts of things,” Kajwang said.
Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula said the bill enhances existing efforts, legal structures and institutions to enhance accountability.
“People get into public offices and do not work for the public, but themselves. The President had earlier on told the country that Sh2 billion is stolen through corruption every day,” he said.
“We also have on record the government saying that one-third of our public budget is stolen, meaning that in a budget of Sh3 trillion, we lose Sh1 trillion to fraudsters and corrupt individuals.”
Edited by Kiilu Damaris