Kenya is being swallowed up by the monster of corruption

Corruption in Kenya and under the Jubilee Administration has reached the high water mark. Just as flood waters would do, the country now risks getting swallowed up by the monster of corruption. Every day, major publications in Kenya and other media outlets, there is a drip feed of unsavory allegations on corruption regarding holders of public offices in Kenya.

What this does is mutilate our image into shreds and cast Kenyans as a pack of wolves that would tear and spirit away public resources under their trust, just as the pack of wolves would tear away at morsels of flesh. The time to address the issue is now.  The urgency of the matter is such that the whole government needs a total overhaul.

First there are those officers, juniors and of senior positions who have stayed in one ministry for a long time and have perfected the art of cutting deals and skimming those ministries dry. They are appended to those ministries the way a new born is attached to its umbilical cord. Then there are the crafty middle men and businessmen who are peering in from outside and are busy pacing up the corridors of Harambee house, buying favor and cutting deals.

All this is happening while the country is getting consumed under a thick fog of economic uncertainty to an extent that the government and Treasury CS Henry Rotich have found it prudent to undertake domestic borrowing. Corruption is so entrenched in Kenya that instead of the government being a guarantor of local banks and seeking to bail them out in times of economic difficulty , it's the other way around. In the advent of the economic meltdown in Europe and in the UK in particular, the UK government moved in to capitalise struggling financial institutions such as the Northern Rock, Lloyds TSB bank among others to help solve the economic problems and restore sense into the economy. Northern Rock held substantial deposits from pensions owned by elderly customers in the UK.

Although Northern Rock collapsed in the end, the UK government intervened many times with cash injections in a bid to ensure that customer deposits were protected and that the bank remained afloat. Enough funds were allocated to the UK central bank which moved in with cash infusions to help the struggling banks, spur borrowing and regain consumer confidence.

In Kenya, it is the exact opposite. The Jubilee Government is undertaking ambitious projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway, the Lapsett corridor project, road construction among others. The above projects are commendable and would serve as a cornerstone for future meaningful development. For example, the much publicised railway project was caught up in a swirl of corruption allegations.

Kenya as a country needs to break clean from corruption and to do so would mean a fresh start. The Executive arm of the government, including the President and Deputy President need to be tough and determined in the fight against corruption. The monster of corruption is so capricious that it would devour anything in its way. Half-hearted gestures, apportioning blame and Willy-nilly reactions will allow the vice to grow and flourish.

 There should be no sacred cows, no special interest and the President and his deputy should hold "no hostages" in the fight against corruption.