Omtatah slams EACC for ignoring multi-billion scams while chasing small thieves
By Kiprono Keileb, August 12, 2025Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has sharply criticised the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), accusing it of ignoring large-scale theft of public funds while focusing its efforts on pursuing what he called small thieves.
Speaking during a morning talk show on a local radio station on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, Omtatah lamented that from the county level to the national government, no one is being held accountable for the billions of shillings lost annually.
He stated that the EACC has failed to conduct meaningful audits of corruption budgets, instead focusing on petty cases while what he termed ‘real theft’ goes untouched.
“When the Eurobond scandal broke out, the EACC promised to conduct an audit and table a report. To date, nothing has been released. Meanwhile, the alleged scam has ballooned from 2B USD to 7B USD,” Omtatah stated.
The outspoken legislator argued that the commission should stick to its constitutional mandate of handling ethical matters and leave criminal investigations to the police, specifically the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). He argued that Parliament’s decision to grant the EACC investigative powers has weakened the fight against economic crimes.
“CID has an entire department dedicated to economic crimes, yet its resources and money are given to the EACC. When such a powerful anti-graft agency is led by a retired bishop and accountants, how can you expect it to crack down on crime within an organisation? They simply aren’t equipped for that,” Omtatah remarked.
He maintained that Kenya must return to strict constitutional fidelity and restructure the anti-corruption framework to ensure accountability at every level of government. According to him, the current setup has created a climate of impunity, enabling grand theft while ordinary citizens are pursued for minor infractions.
“The truth is, real corruption thrives because those tasked with fighting it are either compromised or completely ill-equipped. Until we overhaul the system and give the right agencies their rightful powers, the big thieves will continue to walk free,” Omtatah warned.
His remarks add to growing public frustration over perceived inaction by the country’s anti-corruption agencies, even as Kenya grapples with rising debt and repeated reports of misappropriated billions.