By Lauryne Akoth
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has refuted claims of an amnesty offer extended to Public officers with forged academic and professional certificates.
Referring to an article about the alleged amnesty offer, EACC stated, “EACC is not aware of the “amnesty offer” referred to in the attached story.” The commission urged journalists to seek clarification where necessary, to avoid misleading the public and ensure accurate and contextual reporting of technical issues.
In the article written by one Titus Ominde, a reporter for the Business Daily, the writer indicated, “The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has promised to drop cases against individuals who secured employment in public offices using fake credentials if they return all the monies they earned in salary through the irregularly acquired positions.”
“The EACC has promised that it will grant amnesty to individuals who come forward to surrender the illegal proceeds since the salaries were drawn from public coffers using fake academic documents.”
The author mentioned that Japheth Baithalu, the Regional Manager of EACC in North Rift, expressed readiness for EACC to adopt the Alternative Justice System (AJS). This system would enable suspects to reimburse the government for the duration of their employment, with forgiveness granted after that.
In a statement issued by EACC, the commission noted that despite the law permitting them to use the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), it is only reserved for civil matters and neither does it hinder the commission from recommending prosecution.
“In this case, although the law permits EACC to use Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), this is only limited to civil matters, such as in recovering public property lost or stolen through corrupt conduct. For the avoidance of doubt, the use of the ADR mechanism by the EACC does not necessarily stop the Commission from recommending criminal prosecution of the suspects.”
The commission affirmed that an example of how ADR would apply would be if salaries and benefits acquired by public officials using falsified academic credentials could be fully reclaimed.
If a suspect opts to cooperate with the Commission for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to willingly return what they have gained over time, only civil recovery cases will be halted.
EACC concluded its statement by reiterating, “Contrary to the impression created in the said story, ADR by EACC does not extinguish criminal culpability.