As much as we reject every form of corruption that diverts money from the poor, the only vaccine to this menace is transparency from the Ethics And Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
In the last three months, EACC has, according to their annual report handled 42 cases- even though a number still under investigations but reveals how bribery is being normalized in the country.
With corruption normalized, the EACC report fails to capture massive looters of public funds. I quick examples of cases missed are here as this site has been serializing with in-depth analysis.
Kembi Gitura. What did the new Attorney General Nancy Gathungu try to do?
The ODDP had received files about the KEMSA scandals but, here are those that stole the billions of shillings and left the coffers both sick, ailing, and bankrupt with no shreds of help.
The Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, Sabina Chege and Senator Gideon Moi were also alleged to have galloped the COVIDMILLIONAIRES bag. This and many more have been covered by this site.
In the EACC report, big fish of corruption and the masterminds of fraud were not mentioned. Here are those that were flooded in the EACC report.
A parent in Kilifi was asked for Sh 50,000 by a children’s officer in order to keep their child safe from an abusive father. The parent was seeking custody of her child whose life was in danger. So as to get the child, a policeman attached to Kilifi police station was working in cahoots with a children’s officer who demanded the bribe. After it received a complaint at the Huduma Centre desk in Kilifi, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission detectives planned and executed a sting operation on December 19, 2018.
“Investigations established that although the police officer and children’s officer demanded the bribe, it was only the children’s officer who received the Sh2,000 trapped money since the police officer had traveled,” the Commission said in a report.
EACC recommended prosecution of the two officers but DPP Noordin Haji asked the Commission to carry out further investigations since EACC had done shoddy work.
Just as the ODPP had declined to prosecute the KEMSA scandal and covidmillionaire thieves that had been named even in an expose that was air by a local media house.
In Kisumu County, Kisumu West Chief demanded and obtained Sh7,700 bribe from an elderly woman. The Commission said the bribe was to enable the Chief to write for her a succession confirmation letter and sign a death certificate for her kin. The detectives arrested the Chief and recovered Sh5,700 from him while Sh2,000 was recovered from Gombe Kokulo Secondary School where he had paid fees for his nephew.
The DPP endorsed the prosecution of the officer. He approved for the Chief be charged with three counts of receiving bribery and abuse of office.
At Dago Trading Centre within the County, the detectives busted Bar Assistant Chief and recovered Sh1,500 from him. EACC said the official had obtained the bribe from a Pwani University student to shortlist her as a census enumerator in 2019. Investigations are still ongoing after the DPP asked the Commission to carry out a further probe to nail the officer.
The report sent to Parliament by the anti-graft agency says Kenyans have to part with a bribe to get services from government officers or get away with offenses. National and County government officers are demanding bribes from all people with little or no regard for status.
In Isiolo, the report says, a tout working with Northern City Coaches bribed a female police officer with Sh2,000 to spare two ‘suspicious’ passengers. The officer who is attached to the Multi-Agency Security Operations flagged down the bus and was screening the passengers when she came across the duo who could neither speak in English nor Swahili. The DPP approved the prosecution of the conductor for giving a bribe.
In Nairobi, an employee of the State Law Office asked for Sh2,500 to release a birth certificate to a distressed Kenyan. Again in Kisumu, two officers attached to Kisumu Railways police station asked for a Sh3,000 bribe from two Burundi nationals to release 11 pairs of shoes valued at Sh11,000 and to allow them to continue hawking. The DPP, however, returned the file to the Commission for further investigations.
In Keiyo South, Elgeyo Marakwet, a police officer at the DCI office put at risk the lives of learners by demanding a bribe of Sh30,000 to write a favorable school building inspection report.
“On October 9, 2019, a trap operation was planned and executed. Investigations established that the police officer demanded and received a financial advantage.” DPP Haji sided with the Commission to charge the officer with two counts of receiving a bribe.
