Ruto vows reforms in graft war as EACC goes after Sh59b ill-gotten wealth

President William Ruto at a past function. [File, Standard]

The anti-corruption commission is pursuing recovery of Sh59 billion in unexplained riches against people whose wealth significantly exceeds known legitimate sources.

President William Ruto, while receiving recovered assets worth Sh28 billion which Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) says was fraudulently acquired in the last five years, said the pursuit was through court cases.

Among properties that EACC said it had recovered include two acres of land in Kisumu belonging to the Judiciary valued at Sh1.4 billion and three properties in Eldoret worth Sh1.2 billion belonging to the National Police Service.

Speaking at State House, the President acknowledged EACC's efforts and urged the Judiciary to expedite corruption cases and touted planned amendments to procurement and anti-graft legislations to enhance accountability.

"The goal here is to overhaul institutional and operational framework of public procurement, which is the biggest problem that we have," added Ruto.

The planned changes include amendments to the Public Finance Management Act and the setting up of a digital procurement platform for real-time end-to-end public visibility from the advertisement stage, through to the award of contracts.

Other amendments include changes to the Evidence Act and plans to have corruption cases concluded within six months.

"Such successes play a role in deterring corruption by demonstrating that in the end, corruption is not worth the trouble as the corrupt ultimately lose everything they have taken from the people," said Ruto.

EACC chairperson David Oginde said the commission would maintain proactivity against corruption.

"We have put in place a strategic plan that runs from last year to 2028. Among the key strategies that we have outlined in that plan is to get high impact cases through investigation. Such cases include cases that have high public interest, high value of public funds or that involve high profile personalities," said Oginde.

EACC Chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak said the commission would focus on tracing and recovering stolen assets.

"Asset tracing and recovery of corruptly acquired property and wealth extinguishes the benefit obtained through corrupt activities. This strategy works to create a natural deterrence," he said.