Activist and Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has alleged that corruption is prevalent in the country because it bears a wrong name which does not allow proper punishment and legislation.
According to Omtatah, corruption has been sugarcoated to look like a ‘good crime’, giving the culprits leeway to escape without facing the law.
“If I had my way, I would abolish the word corruption, I would call it theft. We have mischaracterised theft by public servants and called it corruption something that sounds good. We must go back to the nomenclature and ensure that everything we call corruption is theft,” Omtatah explained.
According to Omtatah, corrupt leaders should not be taken to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)but instead should be dealt with by the police just like thieves.
A photo of the EACC headquarters, at Integrity House in Nairobi.
Photo
EACC
“Thieves should not be allowed to request bonds and bails. They should go to a police cell. Let them be processed as thieves,” Omtatah continued.
Additionally, Omtatah has suggested that the country should have special courts to deal with such thieves, and prosecution and judgment should not take more than six months.
According to the lawyer, who expressed his prospects of vying for Kenya’s presidency in 2027, the EACC doesn’t have the constitutional right to fight corruption.
“Look at anti-corruption, their work is to enforce the code of conduct. They have no crime-basting powers in the constitution. We should focus on the police,” Omtatah revealed.
Corruption has been one of the most prevalent cases in Kenya, with the culprits being powerful civil servants who not more than once escape punishment.
Relevant stakeholders like the KNHCR have decried such corrupt leaders getting away with corruption cases and still getting appointed to government jobs shoving away the corruption charges.
For instance, the KNHCR flagged the appointment of former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich after the anti-corruption court cleared Rotich and eight others of fraud-related charges in the botched construction of two Ksh63 billion dams, Arror and Kimwarer.
Other corruption cases that have been withdrawn without valid explanations include that of firmer NHIF CEO Geoffrey Mwangi, CAKs Chairperson Wambui Mary, Aisha Jumwa’s Ksh19 million graft case just to mention a few.
With the new move, Omtatah is advocating for proper accountability and action.
EACC Chairperson David Oginde gives a speech during the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) report on corruption in the healthcare sector in Nairobi on May 17, 2023.
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