The Senate Lands committee has asked the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to probe a new county dumpsite in Kisumu because they lack the facts.
Unsubstantiated allegations should be returned to sender. They should not be forwarded to the EACC for investigation.
The case involves a complaint to the Lands committee by a local MP unhappy that waste from the Kachok dumpsite was being moved to Kajulu quarry at a cost of Sh300 million because birds flocking to Kachok were endangering flights into Kisumu airport.
The MP was not so much worried about the cost of the contract as possible pollution of the water table beneath the quarries and an alleged lack of public consultation.
The Senate committee declined to hear the case saying that the MP had not provided evidence for the allegations which were denied by Kisumu county. So they asked the EACC to investigate.
Forwarding unsubstantiated allegations to the EACC immediately makes the county's tender looks suspicious. The county becomes guilty until proved innocent. It would have been better if the committee had called for concrete evidence of impropriety or environmental damage before asking the EACC to investigate.
Quote of the day: "The fact that people die because of an AK-47 is not because of the designer, but because of politics."
Mikhail Kalashnikov
The Russian general weapons designer died on December 23, 2013
