During his swearing in ceremony, President William Ruto promised to tackle a plethora of issues within 100 days in office. Top on the list was the high cost of living, ballooning public debt, economic meltdown, removing the obstacles to affordable healthcare, and tackling the corruption monster that has for decades proven to be an impediment to the country’s economic, social and political growth.
On the war against corruption, the President outlined his plan to end the weaponisation and politicisation of the anti-corruption efforts by allowing the relevant institutions to freely exercise the independence given to them by the Constitution.
He promised to grant financial independence to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the police to end their reliance on the Office of the President, and to entrench the independence of the Judiciary by operationalising the Judiciary Fund.
As a long term measure in the Kenya Kwanza Manifesto, the President said his administration will work to promote accountability and openness in the management of public affairs, institutionalise open governance in all State organs and agencies, and publish an annual State of Openness Report.
Hundreds days in office have lapsed. The President has in this period signed an executive order conferring financial autonomy to the National Police Service by transferring their budget from the Office of the President and designating the Inspector General of Police as the accounting office, a good step in fulfilling the aspirations espoused in Article 245 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
Despite the measures taken to grant financial autonomy to the criminal justice actors , President Ruto’s performance on tackling corruption has not lived up to its billing in the 100 days mark. He is yet to demonstrate genuine, bold and potent political will to fight corruption, if his appointments of individuals with tainted integrity to the Cabinet and various public offices is anything to go by.
By appointing persons accused of corruption to the helm of his administration, the President is making a mockery of Chapter 6 of the Constitution which is key in aiding the war on corruption, yet on the other hand he purports to be strengthening institutions to deal with corruption. Isn’t this a clear case of the old adage, “giving with one hand and taking away with the other”?
Within the 100 days of Ruto’s administration, corruption cases of high-profile political individuals, some implicating his close associates, have inexplicably tumbled, ostensibly on claims that the cases had been fabricated by the former administration for political expediency, and the accused individuals now left of the hook, given a warm welcome into President Ruto’s administration. This then begs the question, how will he tackle corruption, with individuals previously implicated in the vice?
As Ruto steps beyond the first 100 days of his administration, he must now lead a behavioural change process in the country by adhering to a philosophy of “zero tolerance to corruption”. Ruto must reject individuals with questionable integrity. Being the Christian he is, I presume that President Ruto is familiar with the scriptures in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “bad company, corrupts good character”, the tainted individuals in his administration will profane him by association.
Therefore, just like the aphorism “Caesar’s wife must be beyond suspicion”, Ruto’s “right-hand men” must be beyond reproach, if he is to salvage the “Hustler nation” from the scourge of corruption and ring fence public resources for the benefit of all Kenyans.
—The writer is the Executive Director, Transparency International Kenya
