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Corruption fight firmly on course, Uhuru says after Matemu exit

Matemu tendered his resignation to President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, less than a month after the latter appointed a tribunal to investigate charges of incompetence levelled against the commissioners/FILE

Matemu tendered his resignation to President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, less than a month after the latter appointed a tribunal to investigate charges of incompetence levelled against the commissioners/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 13 – A day after the resignation of the last Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) chairman Mumo Matemu, the United Kingdom and Switzerland have acknowledged government’s action to address the institutional capacity constraints of the Commission.

Matemu tendered his resignation to President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, less than a month after the latter appointed a tribunal to investigate charges of incompetence levelled against the commissioners.

The UK High Commissioner to Kenya Christian Turner and the Swiss Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud communicated the message quoted above, according to the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit, during a meeting held between themselves, President Uhuru Kenyatta and members of the EACC secretariat.

The meeting came as conflicting messages were given by the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) and the state counsel on the fate of the commissioner-less Commission.

The CIC contends that the EACC cannot successfully prosecute cases without commissioners while the Attorney General is insistent that the Secretariat can do so with or without commissioners.

An uncertainty that looms over the May 27 deadline President Kenyatta gave the commission to either prosecute or clear five suspended members of his cabinet, among other public officials, of corruption accusations levelled against them.

READ: 5 Cabinet Secretaries, 12 Governors in EACC graft list

On Tuesday, before news of Matemu’s resignation broke, an EACC source told Capital FM News that they plan to prosecute three of the Cabinet Secretaries, four governors and parastatal chiefs.

READ: EACC wants three ministers, PSs charged

The Director of Public Prosecutions has already okayed the prosecution of two other public officials — Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter and nominated MP Sonia Birdi.

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READ: MPs Keter, Birdi to face charges over weighbridge saga

At the Wednesday morning meet, the UK and Swiss governments pledged their continued support of the Kenyan government’s efforts against corruption and President Kenyatta assured them that, “attempts to derail the anti-corruption campaign would not succeed.”

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