Cabinet approves Bribery Bill 2015 to curb graft

The Cabinet has approved the Bribery Bill 2015 that outlines stringent legal measures to check graft between the public and private sectors.

The objective of the Bill is to criminalize both offering and receiving of bribes by any person, including local or foreign entities, and to make specific requirements for private entities to have in place procedures for the prevention of bribery.

The requirement for private sector entities to adopt anti-bribery measures is informed by the fact that the private sector acts as the supply side of corruption in the public sector, hence the need to stop bribery at the source.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has in the past noted that 70 per cent of corruption in the country is in the procurement departments which do business with the private sector.

In November 2015, President Kenyatta formed a special working group to come up with concrete measures on the best way to address the rampant graft in the country.

The special committee between the government and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) was led by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and consisted of the CS Industrialization, CS Internal Coordination, CS ICT, the Chief of Staff, Chief Justice, the Director of Public Prosecution, government regulators and the private sector.

Late November 2015, the Proposed Bribery Bill 2015 was presented to President Kenyatta by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).

The Bill aims at making corruption expensive for both givers and receivers of bribes.

According to Senior Counsel Mohammed Nyaoga, the man who drafted the Bill, it aims at curbing corruption in the private sector, which is the government’s main supplier of items and services.

Nyaoga said that the Bill is in line with the international best practices that require a stand-alone Bill to deal with graft in the private sector.

According to the Bill, an individual found guilty of offering, promising or giving financial or other advantage to another person; or intends to induce another person to perform improperly a relevant function or activity; or intends to reward another person for the improper performance of such a function, is liable to imprisonment for a term of between one year to ten years or a fine not exceeding their statutory maximum, or both.

The Bill further stipulates seizure of property of individuals or companies that is acquired through a corrupt manner as well as debarring of companies that give or receive bribes from participating in any government tendering or procurement.

As if this is not enough, the Bill extends the penalties to individuals who give or receive bribes in foreign territories.

According to section 11 of the Bill, any Kenyan citizen or a commercial organization that offers or receives a bribe in places outside Kenya will also be liable to prosecution locally.

The Bill also requires companies to put in place measures for prevention of bribery. Section 7(1) of the Bill states; “A commercial organization is required to have in place procedures, appropriate to its size and scale and to the nature of its operations, for prevention of bribery.”

In December 2015, President Kenyatta said that no one will be spared in the fight against corruption.

The President called on Kenyans to join the government in ending graft and relevant anti-graft agencies are equal to the task.

“From the EACC, to the DPP; from the DCI to the Assets Recovery Agency and Financial Reporting Centre, our anti-corruption institutions have shown unprecedented unity of action without any compromise of their constitutional independence,” he said.

“More than 350 cases are in progress – and many relate to some of the highest-ranking members of Government. This is a war against corruption, not against the small fish.”