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Kenyans urged to weed out tainted leaders

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 7 – The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) has emphasised the need for accountability mechanisms in public institutions to root out corruption.

Director Patrick Lumumba called on Kenyans to remain vigilant and carefully vet people who vie for elective posts in order to engage leaders of integrity.

“Very soon we are going to have 47 counties receiving huge resources. What are we doing to create an environment where these resources are not taken in the first place?” he posed.

“What is our national and natural instinct as Kenyans? Do we hate corruption or are we simply annoyed because we do not have the opportunity to be corrupt?”  He asked as the KACC signed an agreement with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights to monitor graft.

Dr Lumumba said that the partnership between KACC and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) would have far reaching effects in the war against graft.

“We have identified, for example, that KNCHR has got a presence in Wajir and Kitale and we see no reason why we should not share those facilities,” he said.

He further dismissed claims that he was all about talk but no work. He stressed that he was committed to the fight against corruption and would do all in his power to root out the vice in institutions.

He said thorough investigations are currently being undertaken in all pending cases with a view to conclude them.

“How can you ask a person who is in the business of preaching against evil to stop preaching? In   fact, I should talk more because it is our duty to preach against the vice,” he said. “In addition to the talk, there must be the walk and we are going to do both.”

He called on Kenyans to be patient as KACC continues to carry out its mandate.

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“All the cases you know about are being subjected to thorough scrutiny with a view to concluding investigations and with a view to mounting prosecutions where there is sufficient evidence,” he said.

Meanwhile, the KNCHR has underscored the negative impact that corruption has on the lives of Kenyans. Commissioner Hassan Omar Hassan observed that corruption infringes on the realisation of an individual’s fundamental rights.

He pointed out that as a commission, they would interact with Kenyans in a bid to expose corrupt individuals.

“We have had those issues that we will be moving on with the KACC almost immediately and then there are those issues that we are going to be processing with respect to how we can mutually benefit from our internal systems,” he said.

He was speaking at the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters where he said that the partnership between the two organs would go a long way in reducing corruption.

“It is well known globally that corruption is a human rights issue. It disenfranchises the society and infringes on the realisation of fundamental rights of individuals,” he said.
 

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