By Grace Gilo
President William Samoei Ruto has established a Multi-Agency Team on War Against Corruption (MAT) with the strategic goal of fostering synergy and cooperation among various agencies in the fight against corruption, economic crimes and related offenses.
In a presidential proclamation issued on Tuesday, President Ruto stated that the MAT shall foster cooperation, coordination, and collaboration to enhance the effectiveness of the fight against corruption.
“For this purpose, the team shall be funded from the budgetary allocations of its member entities and other sources,” the proclamation stated.
The MAT will consist of several state agencies, including the Executive Office of the President (EOP) as Chairperson, the Office of the Attorney General as Secretary, National Intelligence Service (NIS), Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).
“The membership is mandated to co-opt additional representation from designated agencies to further enhance its objectives,” said the Head of State.
The MAT will focus on enhancing cooperation, coordination and collaboration among the agencies, engaging other relevant agencies, organs of government and private sector to enhance the effectiveness of the anti-graft campaign, identifying resource needs for each agency and collaborating organs and seeking support for the same.
Additionally, the MAT will share best practices and approaches for tackling corruption in Kenya, develop effective communication strategies for awareness creation on the gains and achievements made in the fight against corruption and engage both domestic and international relevant agencies for effectiveness and optimum realization of the fight against economic crimes, organized crimes and recovery of proceeds of crime.
“The Executive Office of the President shall chair the Multi-Agency Team, while the Office of the Attorney General shall head the Secretariat,” the proclamation added.