By Lauryne Akoth
President Ruto has urged public officials with forged public certificates to resign.
Speaking during the third National Wage Bill Conference, President Ruto expressed his stance against corruption in the country, stating that there’s pilferage and outright theft in the public space.
He noted that more resources could be channeled towards development were it not for corruption.” We have stabilized what we need to stabilize, we will confront the monster of corruption going forward, whether in National or County governments,” said Ruto.
He noted that an audit of public officers revealed that 2100 individuals obtained jobs with forged certificates. The head of state noted that the war against officials with forged certificates should be included among the resolutions of the National Wage Bill.
This would be in line with the resolution that states that the national government is committed to reducing its wage bill to 35 percent of revenue by 2028, in line with the Public Finance Management Act (PFM) 2012.
“Those who have earned money using fake certificates should refund us our public money. Isn’t it equivalent to obtaining it via false pretense? Those who are in government offices today with fake certificates should leave. They should resign and go away and look for money to pay us the public resources that they have earned falsely,” asserted the head of state.
Ruto also mentioned that he intends to crack down on individuals with fake certificates. “Good people, we just must do what we must do, and for your information, I intend to do it and I am ready to take the consequences,” he said.
He noted that he did not mind people calling him names as long as the country was headed in the right direction. “I am already Zakayo so there is no problem,” he said making light of his nickname allotted by Kenyans.
“If the country is going to get to where we want it to go, I do not mind names so long as we get the country where we should go,” said Ruto.
While addressing the Chair of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Madam Lyn Mengich, the head of state observed that although the goal for reducing the wage bill to 35% was initially set for 2028, the national government could strive for an earlier achievement, aiming to reach the target by 2027.
The head of state further instructed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to take decisive action against individuals who secured public service positions using counterfeit certificates.