I will fight corruption – Ruto promises international community
By George Brian, March 9, 2022
Deputy President William Ruto has for the first time made public his intentions to fight corruption if he is elected president in August this year.
Ruto said that, at the moment, the major challenge Kenya is facing in the fight against corruption is the constant interference of the Judiciary by the Executive. He explained that the Executive has been interfering with the Judiciary by denying it enough funds to independently run its operations.
He, therefore, promised to initiate major reforms in the Judiciary that will see the country effectively fight graft. He vowed to operationalize the Judiciary Fund as per the Constitution to ensure the Judiciary does not depend on funds from the executive.
“It is our commitment to operationalize the Judiciary Fund and get the Judiciary to independently undertake its responsibilities so that corruption cases do not take 10 years because the judiciary is under capacitated and does not have enough resources to hire personnel to discharge its duties,” Ruto said.
The DP said that since the Judiciary is currently depending on the executive for funding, corruption cases are being determined depending on the political affiliation of the accused.
“At the moment, you only need to profess that you support handshake or BBI and you will have no consequences. But we believe that accountability should be built and institutionalized,” he said.
The DP further noted that in his presidency, he will ensure that the entire justice system including, the police service and Directorate of Criminal Investigations free from the influence of the executive. He said that he will ensure that that is achieved by ensuring that the bodies don’t get their funds from the office of the president.