EDITORIAL: Surcharge officials who wasted taxpayers’ funds

Reports that the Treasury is now seeking to recover more than Sh1 billion that was lost in a botched bid to revive Pan Paper Mills is a classic case of bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

It is shocking to learn that government officials injected taxpayers’ funds into the plant only for the same to be shut down and sold for less than its valuation soon after.

As we have stated before, the time has come to surcharge government officials who carelessly and recklessly use public funds with no care at all.

The Directorate of Public Prosecutions should hasten investigations while the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations must be brought in to bring the culprits to book.

Merely taking the suspects to court cannot suffice as common sense demands that the money be recovered in full even if it means seizing assets belonging to the culprits.

The fact that the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor-General concurred that money sunk in the paper mill was a total waste of public funds is a major indictment on the officials who approved the expenditure.

READ: Bid to recover State’s Sh1bn lost in failed Pan Paper revival

But even as Kenyans wait to see how the matter will pan out, many are sceptical about  the outcome as the country has a very poor record when it comes to punishing white collar crime.

Numerous investigations by State agencies have been completed but the files are just collecting dust as the suspects roam free while reaping where they did not sow.

The time has come to treat taxpayers’ funds with the reverence it deserves. We must adopt a culture of zero-tolerance to misuse of money belonging to the public.

If the government is serious about eradicating the menace it must begin cracking the whip on the offenders.

That is the least it can do to show Kenyans that it will jealously protect taxpayers’ money and spend it wisely.