On January 18, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that over Sh2 billion is stolen from government coffers daily.
If you think it was a tongue in cheek moment, you are mistaken.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission once estimated that Kenya loses a third of her annual budget to thieves.
If you divide a third of the Sh3.6 trillion budget by 365 days, you find that Sh2 billion per day loot is a conservative estimate. Amounts lost per day could be higher.
For a country where basic services are in a horrible state, it shouldn't be business as usual when such colossal amounts of money are carted away by those entrusted to keep them safe.
Instead of cursing the darkness, in May, I lit a candle in form of a convening of creatives, economists and researchers to find out why despite what seems like an intense war against graft, the frequency and the amounts stolen in each graft case seems to be increasing.
As a member of the 76 per cent of the population of Kenya, I wanted to find out the voice of the youth.
We conducted 400 random surveys of 18-35-year-olds in nine constituencies in Nairobi.
Through secondary sources, we examined the evolution of the language of corruption since 1963, the economic cost of graft in the lives of young people, the status of major corruption cases in Kenya, the laws passed to tame graft, and the correlation between the vice and mental health in Kenya.
The results released to the media on July 1 are shocking.
The Sh2 billion lost per day is enough to give a daily cash transfer of Sh10,000 to over two million needy residents of Nairobi, especially during the pandemic, feed them breakfast, lunch and supper, pay their rent and eradicate poverty in Nairobi.
But we found that 46 per cent of the respondents feel miserable (wretchedly unhappy) that Kenya is losing billions of taxpayers’ money due to corruption, while 25 per cent are angered.
It’s interesting to note that only two per cent feel hopeless; an encouraging finding that shows young people haven’t lost faith in the war against theft of public resources.
ANTI-CORRUPTION STATUTES
Since 2003, when Parliament passed the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, over 13 laws have been passed with the majority (nine) passed from 2011 and five of them having been passed since 2013 during the UhuRuto reign.
While the threat of punishment ought to deter people from committing crime and reduce the probability and/or level of offending in society, it seems those who are stealing public money aren’t moved by this threat posed by 13 statutes.
This is because our analysis shows with the passing of more laws, we are witnessing unprecedented brazen forms of theft.
But perhaps thieves of public resources are emboldened when they look at the status of major corruption cases.
We counted at least 31 cases in court related to corruption. Fourteen are ongoing, six were fined, five were jailed but two are out on bond.
Two face extradition to Jersey. One was fined and fired, while one case was fined but reinstated.
The only successful prosecutions include that of Sirisia MP John Waluke, Grace Wakhungu, former PS Rebecca Nabutola, and former Kenya Tourism Board MD Ong’ong’a Achieng.
For those who are out on bond, it’s good to note that the amount paid in bond was by far less than the alleged amount lost.
The majority of these cases drag in court, while others, having carted away billions of taxpayers’ money, only pay a paltry percentage of the loot as fine.
Perhaps that explains why young people in Nairobi say what enablers graft in Kenya is greed at 46 per cent and impunity at 17 per cent.
They also perceive the word politician as corruption at 31 per cent, with bribe and thief at 27 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.
On what action should be taken against the corrupt, jail term at 39 per cent is the most recommended action, recovery of stolen resources is at 31 per cent and bar from public office at 27 per cent.
REIMAGINING GRAFT WAR
Based on the findings of our report, it’s clear the fight against corruption needs to be reimagined considering the heartbreaking socio-political-economic impact of the vice on the country.
I call on the Office of the Director of Prosecutions, the EACC, the Assets Recovery Agency, the Judiciary, the police, and other agencies to reimagine and escalate the war on corruption.
Young people want the corrupt jailed. They want assets procured from proceeds of looting public coffers seized without mercy. They also want the corrupt to be barred from public office.
Just the way corruption is hurting young people economically, socially and politically, we want the corrupt to feel the heat.
@dannishodongo is a journalist, an author and founder The Wellness Tribe
