Senate watchdog committee faults EACC, DCI and ODPP over inaction on graft cases in counties

A Senate committee has accused investigative agencies of failing to act on corruption cases in counties, blaming the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for allowing corruption to thrive.

The Senate County Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang', said parliamentary recommendations to the agencies have been ignored or subjected to political interference.

"Graft investigations in counties are slow but hyped for political context. Just like in Nigeria, it took almost a decade to convict a former governor for financial malpractices," Kajwang' said.

He revealed that his committee had referred over 140 cases to the EACC in the past two years, but the agency had not provided any progress reports.

"The last time I called them for a meeting in Mombasa, it was the chairman who came — the bishop. I told him to come up with a listing of all the matters that we have referred to them," Kajwang' said.

"He could only count 149 matters to the commission but asked for time to compile the details,” he added.

The Senate has recommended sanctions, surcharges, and prosecutions against a current and former governor, as well as senior county finance and accounting officers.

Political bias

According to Senator Kajwang', EACC has been acting on graft cases based on political considerations rather than evidence.

"EACC runs after things depending on the politics of the day," he said.

The lawmaker cited the case of former and current Marsabit governors, who were arrested by EACC shortly after the committee questioned the county's use of Sh8 billion.

"Marsabit appeared before my committee, we challenged them to account for Sh8 billion, which was the total allocation for the financial year. The media picked it up and put up a headline, and then a week later, we saw the EACC make dramatic arrests of the governor, current and former," Kajwang' noted.

"The question is, how far has that matter progressed? It has gone cold," he added.

Kajwang' also criticised the DCI for failing to properly investigate corruption cases, citing an incident where the agency cleared Migori County over a suspicious fire that burned down finance offices.

Withdrawal of charges

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• DCI and ODPP over inaction on graft cases in counties

For the ODPP, the committee expressed frustration over its frequent withdrawal of corruption charges.

"The DPP has frustrated prosecutions, frequently withdrawing charges preferred by EACC," Kajwang' said.

He pointed to cases involving former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero and former Migori Governor Okoth Obado as examples of how the ODPP had failed to push corruption cases

In addition, Senator Kajwang' recommended the need for a coordinated effort to combat corruption but questioned who should lead such an initiative.

"We need to ensure we have strong and proper synergies between agencies. We have recommended a multi-agency approach," he said.

"We need a multi-agency approach, but the question is, who should lead the multi-agency? Should it be EACC? Should it be DCI? We are disappointed with them," Kajwang' said.