Using electoral system to fight corruption

The second general elections after the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya will take place on August 8, 2017 within a context of rampant corruption in the country.

It is ironical that corruption has skyrocketed in the past seven years despite Kenyans dedicating a whole chapter in the constitution to address issues of leadership and integrity. It is however not rocket science how we got where we are.

The letter and spirit of Chapter Six were sacrificed on the altar of ICC politics. All institutions with a constitutional and legal obligation to enforce or support implementation of Chapter Six abdicated their role. Save for a self-declaration form that candidates were required to fill by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, there is hardly any other effort at ensuring personal integrity was a factor in the March 4, 2013 elections.

As a matter of fact, the word integrity was itself tainted and given a specialised political meaning. Anyone insisting on it was said to be opposed to the candidature of specific persons. The result was that people with criminal records were nominated by their political parties, cleared to vie by the IEBC and were subsequently elected into positions of authority, to preside over or exercise oversight on how public resources are utilized. The rest is history.

Intertwined vices

This background is important especially in illustrating how the neglect of Chapter Six has facilitated the rise of corruption to critical levels in just a few years. Anyone concerned about the continued existence of this country as a viable nation-state is no doubt thinking how to rid us of the corruption menace.

The connection between our politics and the levels of corruption and related vices is as clear as day. If we don’t elect leaders of integrity, we strike a blow for a future of integrity, prosperity and the welfare of current and future generations.

But how do we ensure this happens? There are three critical levels, more like sieves that are available to us as citizens to sanitize our politics. The first is the political parties’ nominations process. The second is the clearance given by the IEBC and other related agencies for a candidate to be on the ballot paper and hence present himself or herself to the voters for election.

The final and perhaps more fundamental is the role of the electorate in voting only for people with unquestioned integrity. We need to examine these opportunities more critically one by one.

Political parties are an important part of our public governance architecture. We even spent public resources to support their activities, subject to their fulfilment of certain objective criteria. Political parties are bound by the Constitution. They therefore must ensure that the integrity standards required by the Constitution find expression in their activities. They must adopt and be guided by a nomination criteria that ensures that only candidates with no known integrity questions can seek nomination through them.

They should, with the help of the public, scrutinize details about education, professional standing and performance, criminal records, adverse mentions in competent legal and administrative processes among others to determine who qualifies to seek nominations through them. The membership of the political party and the public at large need to engage all relevant process within the party and public institutions to stop anyone facing credible allegations of corruption and integrity lapses.
The clearance process by IEBC is the next critical process for purposes of integrity. The IEBC determines who is qualified to be on the ballot.

The IEBC together with other institutions have come together to initiate a process of enforcing integrity requirements in the elections. This multi-agency effort needs to be supported by all Kenyans who recognize the integrity deficit our country faces.

For the first time, these institutions are bracing themselves to breathe life into Chapter Six and other constitutional requirements. In discharging this mandate, they seem to have interpreted their mandates to a threshold higher than the criminal standard which every politician of questionable integrity wishes is cast in stone.

These efforts should ensure that every candidate nominated meets the ethical standard of the Constitution. The multi-agency team must have the stamina not to be assailed by the political winds.
The final process is the casting of the ballot by voters. Kenyans have been lamenting over the high level of corruption and lack of accountability. This will not change unless they vot

e conscientiously. While voting is not compulsory in Kenya, one hopes that everyone who meets the legal requirements to be a voter now has a voter’s card.

No one, whether thief or saint, will occupy an elected public office except through the ballot. If we find after elections that our public offices are occupied by plunderers, it will be because we put them there through the ballot. If we care for our country, the current and future generations, then we must #RedCardKE those who come seeking political office with tainted hands.

Mr Kimeu is the Executive Director at Transparency International Kenya