Hon Koigi Wa Wamwere: Uhuru and Ruto must bear responsibility for corruption

By Hon Koigi Wa Wamwere

If we have been unsuccessfully in curing corruption, we must admit we have failed to eradicate it because our diagnosis and treatment of it has been wrong, and we therefore need to correct our diagnosis and treatment of graft. Yet we lack correct diagnosis of corruption because we lack the right leaders.

When Uhuru became president of Kenya, many said his leadership was good because being rich it was unlikely that he would be corrupt, and it would therefore be easier for Kenya to eradicate graft.

Things have, however, turned out differently. Since Uhuru became president, corruption has increased in leaps and bounds, and despite denials and excuses, the war on corruption is lost.

Worryingly, our corruption continues to grow because, we address the problem, not as seriously as other people do, but superficially without tackling its root causes.

But assuming we had right leadership to fight corruption, leadership would have to lead, not follow the EACC in fighting corruption. If leaders are not in the fight against corruption, EACC can never win the war against corruption.

There are four fundamental root causes of corruption that must be addressed or we stop talking about ending corruption in Kenya:

1. To end corruption, we shall need social democracy not capitalism. It is madness to think we can end corruption with the same capitalism that mothers it.

2. To end corruption, Kenyans must repeal Ethics and Leadership Act that has emasculated Chapter Six of the constitution whose purpose was to maintain integrity of leaders. An emasculated Chapter Six cannot cure corruption by the same corrupt leaders it birthed.

3. To eradicate graft, the government must annul recommendations of Ndegwa Commission that allow public officers to be both in public service and business, and to do business with the same government they manage. Political leaders promote corruption when they condone business by civil servants.

4. Fighting negative ethnicity must be part of fighting corruption because it recruits ethnic communities into defending corruption of leaders as their sons and daughters.