Tenants have taken over National Cereals and Produce Board properties in different parts of the country and are making money out of them, denying the organisation much-needed income.
A report by the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu warns that the ownership of the properties cannot be confirmed and the board’s financial health is in decline.
This, unfortunately, is the state of most properties owned by many of our public institutions.
The officials in these institutions whose job it is to protect the properties and make them profitable, turn a blind eye or even participate in their misuse and theft.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission should once again come to the public’s rescue.
In 2019 it recovered four properties in Eldoret from a company associated with President Moi and Nicholas Biwott. Last year it recovered Sh35 million Kenya Railways land in Kisumu from Oburu Oginga, to name but a few.
The EACC should go after the NCPB properties with the same determination seen in these other instances and restore them to the public.
That said, officials entrusted with taking care of public property should take that duty seriously. We should pride ourselves on being people who value integrity.
Quote of the Day: “The upward course of a nation’s history is due, in the long run, to the soundness of heart of its average men and women.”
Queen Elizabeth II
The Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland was born on April 21, 1926
