Walk the talk on fines for contract breaches

Attorney-General Justin Muturi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By BUSINESS DAILY More by this Author

The government should proceed with the plans to make public servants accountable with regard to decisions and actions that culminate in the State being ordered to

compensate companies and other parties in botched contracts.

Attorney-General Justin Muturi says he is considering recommending new laws to have what he calls reckless government accounting officers shoulder the costs of unlawful decisions.

It should not remain a mere proposal. His predecessor, Paul Kihara Kariuki, had in 2020 made similar proposals. It has been a long-running scandal that officials have not been held accountable for awards against the government arising from negligence, conflict of interest and corruption, among others.

Mr Muturi says outstanding awards have increased to Sh150 billion — a large amount for a country that has to borrow to fund its spending.

The government has been paying only a small part of the debt, exposing it to the risk of incurring an even heavier burden from accrued interest.

The specifics of the proposals to hold public officials accountable are yet to emerge but the measures should include sackings and claw-back of benefits earned while in the employment by the government.

If there is evidence of corruption and conflict of interest, the State should go after their personal assets to recover the lost amount.

It is even more important for the government’s legal adviser to enhance the supervision of State contracts with the goal of avoiding such liabilities in the first place.

These contracts should be scrutinised thoroughly to balance the interest of the procuring entities, private companies as well as international organisations.