President William Ruto, MPs and senators have in the past
two weeks engaged in an exchange over bribery claims.
Ruto lit the fire while opening the Devolution Conference in
Homa Bay, claiming that MPs and senators were on the take to kill or pass bills and
to launder governors.
He claimed a governor facing impeachment before the Senate spent Sh150 million to get off the hook, while Sh10 million was distributed among MPs to vote against the anti-money laundering law.
The President went
ahead to claim that he was aware of corrupt deals in parliamentary committees.
All these, he said are based on intelligence reports.
However, it is interesting that instead of pushing for
further investigations and prosecution of the givers and takers, the President
took to the podium with such critical information to play politics.
Yes, there has been
talk of corruption in Parliament even before the President broached the matter,
but action on tackling it would definitely speak louder than words.
War against graft has
never been won by shouting from rooftops and forming multi-agency teams but by
concrete action based on evidence.
MPs and senators must also name and shame their corrupt colleagues to avoid blanket condemnation.
