Nairobi — A report by Transparency International(TI) shows that Kenya loses an approximate Sh.608 billion, which is about 7.8per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product(GDP), through corruption annually.
The report further shows that over 135 graft cases of corruption that led to loss of over Sh.160 billion in the past years were registered in court.
Similarly, the report shows, the country lost over Sh.1.2billion and two cases registered in court in 2020 while over Sh. 140billion was lost to the proceeds of corruption in 2019 with 26 cases registered.
"In 2018, 49 graft cases were registered with the loss of over Sh. 16billion while in 2017 and previous years the country lost Sh.67 billion to corruption with 58 cases registered," according to the TI report.
Western Regional Coordinator of Transparency International Elizabeth Duya asked Anti-graft institutions to be firm in prosecuting cases and recover the monies lost.
She noted that Anti-graft intuitions in the country have tried their best in fighting corruption but that only a few individuals interfere with the progress made.
Duya said, with the loss of such huge sums of money, Kenyans are denied services they would have enjoyed if the money would have been channeled to development projects.
"The larger effect is that service delivery is highly curtailed," she noted.
Noting, "Up to date we are still waiting for the Covid billionaires to be arrested, we have not heard a person being charged in court yet life is moving on as if nothing happened. And we know that it was in public domain that money got lost,"
For Kakamega county, Duya noted that non-performance of Own Source Revenue is a pointer of corruption issues that the county is grappling with.
"It indicates that there are so many loopholes in terms of revenue collection and if you look at the reports from the Auditor General and the reports from the controller of Budget they indicate that Kakamega county has not been meeting its revenue targets," she noted.
She urged the county government to seal loopholes in the budget and procurement processes.
"There are a lot of procurement flows that are happening based on the reports by the Auditor general, we see that the law has not been followed and this has given room for corruption to take place in the county," she noted.
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Duya said the country is still facing challenges in implementing Chapter six of the 2010 constitution of Kenya on Integrity and leadership, a problem that is leading to runaway corruption.
"We don't have the goodwill to implement Chapter six of the constitution as it is required. In other countries once implicated, leaders and politicians resign even before being taken to court but in Kenya they still hold those positions up to the last minute despite pressure from stakeholders," she noted.
The Network for Research and Governance Lead Paul Odongo said Kenya is performing badly in the Corruption index. He called for more awareness creation in Kakamega.
"We have issues on underperformance in revenue collection and pending bills among other challenges," he noted.
He said with reduced corruption cases, Kenyans will enjoy development and see value for their taxes.
Recently, Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa affirmed his commitment to fight graft by ensuring that those who will be found culpable are dismissed from service and legal proceedings instigated against them. - Kna
