11 November 2009
editorial
Nairobi — If Parliament passes a Bill to disband the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, it will be tantamount to throwing out the baby with the bath-water.
The Anti-corruption and Economic Crimes (Repeal) Bill, which went through its first reading on Tuesday, is supposed to lead to the disbandment of the KACC, but the benefits of the move are not clear.
Indeed, there can only be two outcomes. First, if passed as it is, the Bill will only give comfort to those who have been fingered by the KACC over the years, and thus nurture impunity. Secondly, its passage can only whet the appetite of those who believe that graft in Kenya pays huge dividends with little pain.
It is a fact that the KACC has been a huge disappointment and the majority of Kenyans long ago lost faith in it. It is also a fact that Kenyans also lost faith in the government's will to fight graft and other crimes involving theft of public funds.
The fact that Kenyans cheered their MPs when they forced the resignation of the Authority's director, Mr Justice Aaron Ringera, and his deputies, was a clear testimony to their disillusionment with the government's ridiculous peroration on the subject.
But the MPs must not forget that the law which is supposed to be repealed by the Bill was passed for a particular purpose, and if the end result was a grossly expensive and ultimately useless contraption, then they are to blame and they must rectify the mistake.
If we are all agreed that corruption must be fought with all the armaments available, what organ does the mover of the motion expect to do the job if all it is allowed to do is to investigate and not prosecute?
Let our MPs stop being carried away by ephemeral victories in minor skirmishes when the war ahead is bound to be difficult - and even bloody. The repeal Bill should be treated with a great deal of circumspection.
What is actually required is an amendment to the Act setting up the anti-graft body so that the agency can become a fearsome creature - one which that make the corrupt tremble whenever it is mentioned.
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