A Senate committee has accused the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Director of Public Prosecutions, (DDP) of failing to act on 60 corruption related files involving billions of shillings.

The Senate Liaison Committee, which comprises chairpersons of all the House committees, wondered why the two investigating arms had failed to act on the files in question despite incriminating evidence of graft.

Speaking during a retreat of the committee in Naivasha over the weekend, Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ noted that one year after they had completed their investigations, no action had been taken.

Kajwang’ who chairs the Devolution committee took issue with comments from the DPP that documents and investigations from the Senate were not credible.

“We have over 60 files that we have investigated and established that there was corruption but the EACC and the DPP have failed to take action raising a lot of questions,” he said.

Service delivery

On his part, Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja took issue with the two institutions for only acting due to public pressure, based on reactions on social media.

He revisited the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency saga noting that investigations kicked off due to public outcry which had been choreographed in the media.

“As Senate , we have done our duty to investigate various scandals and handed the files to the necessary institutions but no action has been taken,” he said.

They complained that despite the a number of suspects having been questioned several times and files forwarded to the DPP, no action has been taken almost a month later.

Embu Senator Njeru Ndwiga who chairs the Agriculture Committee lashed out at the office of the Auditor-General for failing to respond to queries on the Galana Kulalu irrigation project.

He said his committee had written to the office on two occasions, seeking a clarification on use of government’s funds but this had been ignored.

“This is a very critical project for the country in terms of food security but our queries to the Auditor-General have remained unanswered but we shall not tire,” he said.

The Speaker of the Senate Ken Lusaka took issue with the Executive for continuously ignoring Senate summons to address critical issues.

“We have raised the issue with Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i who heads a Cabinet committee on service delivery, and he agreed to make sure that the Executive responds to summons, but this has been in vain,” he said.

This was echoed by the Senate Majority leader Samuel Pogishio who warned of dire consequences if Executive members continue ignoring summons.  

He noted that State agencies were notorious for sending junior officers who could not make decisions, a move that was adversely affecting the work of the Senate.

“We want to issue a notice to Cabinet Secretaries and senior officers of government agencies, that they are duty bound to respect Senate summons,” he  said..