News

CS nominees face new rules on sources of their wealth

house

Parliament in session. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Presidential nominees to the Cabinet or the position of principal secretary will now be compelled to provide a detailed breakdown of all the sources of their wealth as opposed to providing a block figure.

Parliament has proposed a raft of changes guiding the vetting of presidential nominees, which will also include a requirement for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) to appear before vetting panels to shed light on the nominees’ past conduct.

The fresh proposals are contained in a report of the Committee on Appointments chaired by Speaker Justin Muturi following the vetting of former Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe for appointment as Health Cabinet Secretary and Betty Maina for the post of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development Secretary.

"Question 25 of the questionnaire on statement of net worth should be amended to specify that nominees provide details of their net worth instead of submitting a total sum," the committee said in the report. This means the nominees will offer a breakdown of how their wealth is spread across asset classes such as shares, land, real estate and cash. At present, a nominee’s wealth declaration is not interrogated.

During his vetting, Mr Kagwe listed his total net worth as Sh667.8 million while Ms Maina put her wealth at Sh117.5 million. Mr Kagwe said he owns two companies that made Sh5.4 million profit last year. His public relations firm, Tell-Em, made Sh2.87 million while research agency TNS RMS East Africa generated Sh2.625 million last year.

Ms Maina, the outgoing Principal Secretary for Trade and Industrialisation informed the committee that she made her Sh117.5 million wealth from pay linked to her State position and her previous position as CEO of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). She earned Sh10.3 million annually at KAM.

Mr Kagwe’s wealth is second highest in the Cabinet compared to the Sh796 million that former director at Betting Control and Licensing Board Simon Chelugui declared two years ago when he was appointed Water and Sanitation Secretary. Mr Chelugui has since been moved to the Labour Ministry.

ICT boss Joe Mucheru two years ago reported Sh500 million wealth, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani (Sh295 million) and Sicily Kariuki, now the Water and Sanitation minister, joined the Cabinet with a declared wealth of Sh168 million.

Wealth declaration for those seeking top public offices is anchored in the Constitution as a tool in the fight against corruption. In the same vein, the Public Officer Ethics Act requires all State officers to submit their declaration forms once every two years. Section 26 of the Act requires the officers to submit their declarations together with those of their spouses and dependent children under the age of 18 years.

The full financial disclosure is meant to allow the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detect and prevent corruption when top public servants are serving in office.

The wealth lists revealed that those who have previously served in public offices or consulted for government were richer compared to those who have served in the private sector.

The Muturi team said there is need for House committees vetting nominees to take oral evidence by various statutory bodies such as the EACC, DCI, Helb and KRA.

"It is proposed that the meeting with the statutory bodies be convened once the approval process is completed. A vetting manual should be developed to guide the vetting process," Mr Muturi said in the report.