Former United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi has raised concerns over President William Ruto’s directive tasking Parliament with investigating corruption within its ranks, questioning the credibility of the move.

A week after the President directed the Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate to spearhead the probe, Kituyi has dismissed the initiative as insincere, arguing that those entrusted with the responsibility are themselves deeply entangled in questionable practices.

“When the Speaker of the National Assembly is flying out every weekend to distribute money in the name of empowerment, who then will be held accountable?” Kituyi said on a local TV station on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, suggesting that the very institution expected to clean up corruption is compromised at its core.

Kituyi spoke moments after President Ruto on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, outlined the creation of a new Multi-Agency Team on War Against Corruption, which comprises 11 key agencies, under the leadership of the Executive Office of the President, with the Office of the Attorney General serving as the secretariat.

“The Government of the Republic of Kenya is steadfast in its commitment to reinforcing a ‘whole-of-government’ approach in the fight against corruption,” the Head of State said. “The Constitution of Kenya imposes an obligation on all Kenyans to combat corruption,” he emphasised. “Articles 10, 129 (2), 131 (1) (b), 131 (2) (a), and 201 impose on the President the mandate to exercise executive authority in safeguarding and upholding the Constitution and, consequently, in ensuring that public resources are utilised responsibly, in an open and accountable manner.”

Double standards

Kituyi further accused President Ruto of double standards, noting that lawmakers have been “shocked by the mendacity of a president who, despite being dependent on their support and using them as vessels through the so-called empowerment programme, is now turning against his own.”

Meanwhile, Kituyi’s remarks come amid growing unease among political leaders and civil society over the state of Kenya’s anti-corruption war and accountability within Kenya’s governance system. Members of Parliament have asked both the Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate to summon the Head of State over his corruption in remarks last week in Homa Bay County.