• Parliament has been asked to move with speed and fast-track enactment of the Whistleblower Protection Bill 2021.
• They said that some of the political leaders mentioned adversely in mega corruption scandals over the years are easily sanitised through elections
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The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), Transparency International- Kenya, and Amnesty International- Kenya have jointly called upon IEBC and EACC to use the 2022 general elections to raise the integrity bar and root corrupt leaders.
In a statement on Thursday, which coincided with the International AntiCorruptio Day, the lobby groups said the country continues to sink lower in the corruption index.
“Unfortunately, corruption has also increased significantly in the last ten years. The war on corruption has been ethnicised and politicised, allowing regional leaders to divert the quest for accountability,” part of the statement reads.
They said that some of the political leaders mentioned adversely in mega corruption scandals over the years are easily sanitised through elections to become elected representatives of the people.
“We are deeply worried that we are creating a culture of sending a thief to catch a thief. This has created multiple mega corruption cartels across the two levels of government and all departments”
“If we are to recover from Covid-19 and the malignancy of corruption that has caused sharp inequalities and poverty, the 2022 election must be honest.”
They said that Chapter Six of the Constitution has been set aside since the 2013 election, which has been responsible for the undermining of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
“Ten years into the new constitutional dispensation, it’s imperative that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ensures full implementation of the leadership and integrity aspiration of the Constitution in breadth and depth.”
They want aspirants who have been implicated in the Auditor-General’s reports pending investigation to be barred so that political power is not used to hamper independent and effective investigations.
“Bar from elections candidates with pending criminal proceedings, which would result in a minimum jail term of more than six months. Again, to ensure that access to justice is not hampered and in case of a conviction, Kenyans are not subjected to arduous by-elections.”
Also, they want candidates who are indicted by parliamentary committees or impeached through the senate process from holding office to be stopped from vying for elective posts.
At the same time, they have asked the two bodies to encourage open discussion by members of the public on ethical leadership.
The groups added that despite their critical role in combating corruption, Kenya does not have a dedicated law and policy to provide whistleblowers with safe, reliable avenues to report fraud, collusion, corruption, and other wrongdoing.
“As a result, whistleblowers continue to face targeted attacks that affect their social and economic wellbeing instead of the perpetrators of corruption.”
Parliament has been asked to move with speed and fast-track enactment of the Whistleblower Protection Bill 2021, now before the National Assembly, as a practical action towards the fight against corruption.