Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, sounded the warning saying servants found culpable of the offence will have their ill-gotten assets frozen and held by the state as a deterrent in a move aimed at containing increased incidences of graft in public institutions.
He said the government was currently undertaking scrutiny of public servants’ accounts and stock of assets owned before swift legal actions are taken against those found suspect.
Koskei who decried the runaway graft in public offices singled out the procurement, accounts and finance departments as the most fertile grounds for corruption incidences due to the interests of billions of shillings under their watch.
Koskei said corruption within the government is a thorny issue which has derailed the development agenda, hampered service delivery, led to the loss of public resources and tainted Kenya’s image on the international stage.
Speaking in Naivasha during the official opening of the Women in Procurement and Supply Chains Conference, Koskei said the government has tightened the noose on corruption and has adopted a tolerance policy in any ranks across the board.
The Chief of Staff regretted the increase in costs of bribery which had risen to sh. 11,625 in 2023 from sh. 6,865 in 2022 as reported by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
“The government is analyzing exposed individuals’ accounts with some already recorded statements and those found culpable will take personal responsibility for their acts of omission and commission”, said Koskei.
Koskei assured that with the current political goodwill, the era of ‘sacred cows and calls from above’ is over, noting that no one will be spared by the unleashed anti-corruption sword.
In addition, he said procurement personnel must seal all loopholes that lead to loss of public funds through means such as manipulation of procurement information and sharing with potential tenderers, soliciting awards from supplies and directing payments to proxies.
“Procurement professionals can make or break the corruption stranglehold and help stem the tide that is threatening the country’s existence”, Koskei said.
Consequently, Koskei the government agencies in the entire value chain including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Director of Criminal Investigations and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has been empowered financially to rein in graft culprits.
He regretted that through the compromise of public officers, the country has witnessed collapsed buildings due to a lack of following due processes, deaths occasioned by counterfeits and substandard goods, and accidents due to substandard road designs among others.
On the ongoing scrutiny of pending bills, Koskei said the committee formed to review the bills is on course to ensure bills forwarded are merited before the governments commit payments.
He said the committee chaired by the former Attorney General Edward Ouko will table its report in a month adding that only genuine bills and those that followed procurement laws will be paid.
On corruption, EACC’s latest report on National Ethics and Corruption Survey [2023] indicates that six out of 10 Kenya perceive corruption in the country to be high with bribes, favouritism, abuse of office and nepotism leading the charge.
The report flagged the Police, Immigration Department and the Registrar of persons as government departments perceived to be most prone to corruption with greed and desire for quick services being the major drives of the vice.
In addition, the EACC Strategic Plan 2018 – 2023 indicated that the commission successfully recovered corruptly acquired assets worth sh. 28 billion while disrupting activities that could have led to the loss of sh. 39.2 billion of public funds.
In the same period, the commission supported the prosecution of corruption and economic crimes in courts resulting in 168 convictions which the commission attributes to intelligence-led investigations which led to timely interventions.