War on graft will be painful, warns Kenyatta

Politics and policy

President Uhuru Kenyatta during the United Nation Global Compacts 17th Anti-Corruption Working Group Meeting and International Ant-Corruption Conference at Safari Park, Nairobi on December 8, 2015. PHOTO | ROBERT NGUGI 

By PSCU

In Summary

• He asked the private sector, which has a direct stake in the success against corruption, to hold other sectors including international friends and partners to the same code when doing business.
• The Judiciary has faced criticism over the speed at which cases were being heard and determined with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission accusing it of not playing its part.

President Kenyatta Tuesday warned that the fight against corruption will be painful even as pressure mounted on the Judiciary to speed up delivery of justice in graft related cases.

Mr Kenyatta said that all agencies involved in the fight against the vice are now working together without compromising their independence.

“From the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to the Director of Public Prosecutions; from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to the Assets Recovery Agency and Financial Reporting Centre, our anti-corruption institutions have shown unprecedented unity”, said Mr Kenyatta.

The Judiciary has faced criticism over the speed at which cases were being heard and determined with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission accusing it of not playing its part.

“The judiciary has committed to matching our zeal in this struggle. It is time, now, for them to live up to that commitment”, said the President. There are currently more than 350 graft related cases in courts.

The President spoke when he opened the United Nation Global Compact’s 17tt Anti-Corruption Working Group Meeting and International Anti-Corruption Conference in Nairobi.

READ: NIS, taxman join agencies fighting graft

Some of President Kenyatta's ministers have either resigned or been suspended due to corruption allegations.

Wide consultations

The President said corruption had interfered with business operations, national examinations, availability of medicines and delivery of health care in hospitals.

Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai said the country is entering a critical stage in the fight against corruption adding that he met with Swiss prosecutors Tuesday morning to drive the Anglo-leasing cases which had dragged on for 11 years.

Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore said the firm will no longer conduct any business with companies blacklisted by the government over corruption.