President William Ruto has called out the judiciary for coming up with innovations which promote corruption in the country.
The President said corruption is being propagated in the judiciary by giving suspects anticipatory bail.
He said the move is taking Kenyans miles back in the fight against corruption.
“I ask the
judiciary not to be a haven for the corrupt to hide behind judicial decisions. We
have innovations that are only available in Kenya, which allow a corrupt person
or someone who has stolen public resources or someone in breach of law not to
be prosecuted, something called ‘anticipatory bail’, which is a Kenyan innovation that
takes us backwards.
The President said that Kenya is undertaking a transformation; however, acts of corruption impede the fight.
He said all agencies and institutions must come together to help in the fight against corruption in the country and across counties.
“Somebody who has stolen public funds and then goes to the court and gets something called anticipatory bail makes it impossible for such a person to be arrested and prosecuted endlessly. How does that support the fight against corruption?”
Anticipatory bail is a legal mechanism that allows a person to seek bail in anticipation of an arrest for a non-bailable offence.
It's essentially a safeguard against arrest and detention before formal charges are filed, providing a way to avoid being taken into custody.
This type of bail is typically granted by a court (like the Court of Sessions or High Court) after a petition is filed by the individual seeking protection.
The President spoke on Wednesday during the Devolution Conference in Homa Bay County.
He said devolution has been transformative and has fostered equity by distributing resources fairly and addressing historical imbalances.
The President added that devolution has enhanced inclusion by empowering communities, women, youth, and persons with disabilities to participate fully in development.
Ruto warned against corruption among members of parliament in House committees, stating that it must be stopped.
The President said that MPs, through the different committees, demand bribery money from the executive, governors and ministers.
According to him, MPs are fueling corruption by demanding money to write reports or ignore corruption in government.
“I must say the legislature must be held to account because something is going on in our legislature that we must call out. There is money being demanded from the executive, governors, ministers and people in the executive, especially those who go for accountability before our houses of Parliament,” the President said.
He called on the National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetang’ula, to take firm action against corruption in Parliament.
“Mr Speaker, it can’t continue to be business as usual. It is not possible that committees of Parliament demand to be bribed, demand to be paid for them to write reports or look the other way for what is happening in either the county or national government.
