Deal with graft to save economy, Meru MPs tell gov’t

Four legislators allied to the Jubilee Administration from Meru County have urged the government to fight corruption before the vice causes the collapse of the economy of the country.

The legislators said the government’s laxity in stemming out corruption is leading the country down the wrong path.

Speaking at Kilili in Igembe South, Mithika Linturi (Igembe South), Kathuri MurunGi (Imenti South), Gideon Mwiti (Imenti Central) and Meru Women Mp Florence Kajuju called on the government to sack all corrupt officials without further delay.

They vowed to support the dismissal of any government official implicated in corrupt deals to help save the declining economy.

The leaders said that Infotrack research’s findings that 62 per cent of Kenyans claim that the government is going astray should not be ignored.

Addressing faithful during Kanguru New Apostolic Church during a funds drive, they asked the government to sack corrupt individuals indiscriminately in a bid to shape the country’s economic stability.

Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi said: “Nobody should be spared if he/she is involved in graft irrespective of the status so that our country can move in the right direction because corruption has been turned into the breakfast, lunch and supper for Kenyans.”

Mithika also accused the Jubilee Government of failing to fulfill most of it pledges and projects they promised in 2013.

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

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

The committee will meet and explore new ways to deal with and deter corruption while at the same time addressing Kenya’s negative perception in regard to corruption.

The committee is expected to report its findings to the president in one week.

According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) CEO Halake Waqo, 90 per cent of corruption perception is attributed to procurement and bribery.

Procurement accounts for 70 per cent of all corruption cases while bribery accounts for 20 per cent.

EACC said it is currently prosecuting 286 corruption cases, most of which are linked to transactions between procurement officers and private sector players.

EACC is seeking harsher penalties levied against those found guilty of corruption. The legal process was also identified as a challenge along with the quality of investigations.