President Kenyatta has said enough on corruption; it’s time he acted

The renewed fight on graft by President Kenyatta is welcomed however, the suggestions that legal frameworks be put in place to curb the menace is misinformed. The problem that we face as far as corruption is not lack of legal framework for fighting graft, it does exist, but the challenge is lack of enforcement of the relevant bodies mandated to fight corruption coupled with undue interference from the lords of impunity as well as some quarters of the government agencies.

And that is why the move by the President to appoint commissioners to fill the void at Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is a step in the right direction, what remains now is for the agency to be given prosecution powers.

This is the time now for the Executive and all stakeholders mentioned by the President in his speech to ensure that all the measures introduced are fully implemented. Implementation has been also a key stumbling block towards the ending graft because it is worth mentioning that unless we put talks into action it will all be empty rhetoric.

However, it will be more prudent for the President to act in near future and desist from just talking and introducing new policies one after the other. President Kenyatta is on record for accepting that there are cartels in the Office of the President who broke deals and perpetrate corruption, so far non of these cartels has been prosecuted nor hounded out of office.

For the fight against corruption to gain momentum and gain its desired dreams, action would be more sensible. Mr President you have set the ball rolling, follow it up with action. We want to see people in the dock, accounts frozen, sanctions slapped on corrupt individuals, companies deregistered, irregular tender awards revoked among other issues. They say a leader shall be remembered for his legacy. Let the fight against corruption be your legacy.