KACC links increased cases of graft to 2012 poll

The anti-corruption watchdog is predicting an increase in the theft of public resources in the next two years, citing a determination by politicians and senior civil servants to raise money for the 2012 elections.

The Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC) said fundraising for the elections presents a high stakes political contest likely to spark a vicious circle in which millions of shillings may be lost.

“We are likely to suffer a loss of momentum in the fight against corruption as politicians will be tempted to look for additional resources for campaigns. We need to be vigilant to guard public money” said Mr Wilson Shollei, a deputy director at KACC.

Corruption crisis

The warning comes in the face of heightened allegations of corruption facing senior politicians in the government, making Kenya the third most corrupt country in Africa and 35th in the world.

The statement came in the wake of a new corruption crisis at the City Hall involving the purchase of cemetery land, valued at Sh24 million but which was bought at an inflated price of nearly Sh300 million causing public uproar.

President Kibaki has suspended a number of permanent secretaries linked to corruption in their ministries.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga suspended Education minister Sam Ongeri and Agriculture minister William Ruto over corruption allegations in their ministries but President Kibaki immediately reinstated them, saying Mr Odinga lacked powers to remove any minister from office.

Mr Shollei said the upcoming General Election would derail the fight against corruption as civil servants and prospective candidates raise money for the contest.

The reported cases of corruption in public offices are a tip of the iceberg. KACC says nearly one million cases of corruption occur in Kenya annually but that most went unreported. 

The Attorney General’s office has heightened the fight against, corruption seconding prosecutors to some government agencies to help with the prosecution and reduce case backlogs in the courts.

Tax collector, the Kenya Revenue Authority, says it has won cases with a tax liability of Sh220 million over the last six months following the posting of six prosecutors to Times Towers.

“The Authority is currently consulting with the Attorney General to have more of it’s own prosecutors gazetted. The lawyers are gazetted as prosecutors for the purpose of revenue offences. They discharge their mandate just the way the state councils who prosecute criminal matters do,” says KRA Senior Deputy Commissioner for Marketing and Communication, Mr Kennedy Onyonyi.

Tax fraud

Most of the cases won by KRA involved private businesses either attempting to evade tax or trying to stop the taxman from collecting taxes.