Politicians with questionable integrity could end up on the ballot in the August 9 general election, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has said.
EACC chief executive Twalib Mbarak on Tuesday told the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly they don't have not enough funds for the integrity verification.
He disclosed that the anti-graft agency has Sh154 million in its bank accounts, adding that the situation has hampered EACC operations a great deal.
“We are in a mess being a period when we are usually very busy. We are to do integrity verification for clearance of candidates but have no sufficient funds for that,” Twalib said.
The EACC boss said in the ensuing circumstances, the commission may “be forced to go generic but we will dilute the type of report we will give IEBC or the public.”
“The vetting may not be thorough. We need to tell the IEBC these are the red flags of these people, say show those with fake degrees,” he said.
Twalib said they had challenges with Article 99 and would thus prefer the vetting is done prior to the elections, citing frustrations when flagged officers keep serving in their positions.
“It would be fair that EACC gets this money. At least the public would know that EACC raised an issue. This is an essential service. From tomorrow, the whole game starts. We need the money urgently.”
This was even as MPs questioned the place of the EACC in the vetting they are seeking funding for, and whether it was in line with the law.
Members of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee also questioned what would be the worst outcomes if the pre-election integrity verification was not conducted.
JLAC vice chairman Tom Kajwang ’ said, “I don’t see you (EACC) doing the work the National Intelligence Service is doing in the integrity checks.”
Keiyo South MP Daniel Rono asked, “What would happen if you don’t get money? Will it mean no clearance of candidates seeking electoral seats?”
Mbarak disagreed saying verification forms are filled from EACC. “If you don’t fill it, you may not vie for your parliamentary seat.”
But Kajwang maintained, “It is because when they come, they are vulnerable. The fact that nobody has taken you up, doesn’t mean it is ok. It doesn’t mean that that is the law.”
He asked the EACC to create a forum reflecting on the law saying this will likely find that it extended its mandate beyond the provisions of the Leadership and Integrity Act.
But Twalib said, “I have not seen anyone vying who has not filled the integrity forms much as there are a lot of conflicting laws and acts of Parliament.”
“It takes less than a minute to know someone has a fake certificate…less than a minute. But when you try to arrest the MP over the charge, they finish their term when the case is still in court. The fellow goes for second term, appeals and end up being pensionable,” Twalib said.
He further warned that a number of county and national government agencies were exposed as most corrupt activities are executed during the transition from one administration to another.
Twalib said owing to the cash crisis, underground activities undertaken by the EACC in line with its corruption prevention policy have been affected.
“We are experiencing serious budgetary constraint in suitability for persons, targeted investigations in multi-billion shilling projects under Big 4 and enhancing institutional capacity for corruption prevention,” he said.
Twalib said the agency requires Sh360 million for the remainder of the year.
The EACC was not allocated any additional funds to the Sh3.3 billion provided in the current financial year.
The EACC boss said they usually conduct targeted investigation and undercover operations in high priority projects.
“We need the money to increase our investigative capacity as well as get motor vehicles and computers. Investigators share laptops and other working tools as they execute their jobs.”
Twalib said the EACC requires the cash to scale up surveillance around state agencies in order to avert theft of public resources.
“We are having bureaucrats at county and national level who don’t know their future. They don’t know if they are going to be defeated. There is high chance people are plotting graft. The EACC needs to be vigilant in terms of investigations,” Twalib added.
He said with an operational balance of Sh154 million, the agency would lose its desire to be proactive than being reactive in curtailing graft.
Twalib further indicated that the existing vehicles in the agency’s pool have turned out costly to repair.
“The EACC has never bought a single vehicle in the past three years. Our vehicles are no longer economical since the cost of maintaining them is high,” he said.
The commission secretary added that staffers were sharing computers as budget for ICT support has been significantly underfunded amid a plan to centralise wealth declaration to work like KRA’s iTax.
“We have issues to do with ICT as well. The automation process is not going on, hence affecting our operations a great deal,” Twalib added.
The commission reported that in the current financial year, it has handled 83 cases of high impact, of which three involve governors, and 10 relating to senior people in government.
Twalib reported that the agency has also resolved cases valued at Sh1.5 billion under the alternative dispute registration mechanisms and has recovered assets worth over Sh3 billion.
