KAIKAI’S KICKER: Can EACC confront the big fish?

On my kicker tonight, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) early this week released its National Ethics and Corruption Survey, 2024. The EACC explained that the purpose of the survey was to establish the status of unethical practices and corruption in the country. It was no surprise that the survey established that corruption is the second most pressing problem in Kenya; the first problem being unemployment.

Then the survey went big on what the findings described as the most common form of corruption in Kenya; and that is – bribery. The 92-page report then went on to list professionals perceived to be engaged in unethical practices and corruption. As usual, police officers took the lead followed closely by officers of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Chiefs followed, then county inspectorate officers… lawyers closed the charts for the top five. Journalists grabbed the final spot in the list of 16 sectors perceived to engage in unethical practices and corruption.

Detailed survey it was, but then what? What is new? And more consequentially what next? I propose an internal exercise for the EACC. A very simple exercise. How about a reverse survey for all officers of the anti-corruption body. The survey should have only two questions: the first question is – what do we know as EACC?

The second question is; what have we done about it? In other words, the EACC should be more robust, bold and honest in reflecting over the true state of the fight against corruption in Kenya today. I have no survey findings to submit on this but common perceptions are that the war on corruption in Kenya only focuses on the small fish and spares the big fish.

In an ironic coincidence this same week, a report by the Auditor General revealed that some Ksh.44 billion could not be accounted for on the e-Citizen platform. Now, this is big time stuff. Ksh.44 billion. Hello EACC? Any word on e-Citizen? And by the way how much in comparison do police officers cost the public in bribes? What if we are always barking up the wrong tree when it comes to corruption? I suspect we are.

Without requiring a survey, official corruption is Kenya’s grandest problem. From Goldenberg to Anglo-Leasing and NYS to Arror-Kimwarer fictitious dams we all know that big fish corruption is an industry in itself.

To EACC, do not pretend you don’t know. You need no surveys. You just need courage. And courage not just to chase around traffic policemen but also go for the big time looters who siphon public funds at every turn. You also need the courage to read, not just the National Ethics and Corruption Survey findings, but also the periodic shocking reports from the Office of the Auditor General. Have the courage to face not just the small fish, but also the big fish.

Have the courage to tell us something about e-Citizen.