President Uhuru Kenyatta is strengthening the anti-corruption laws with consequential changes that make it mandatory for all state officers, including the Deputy President, to step aside if charged.
Uhuru Kenyatta is also said to be piling pressure on the Judiciary arm of government with a proposed requirement that all graft cases are concluded within two years.
On Tuesday, a bill was tabled in parliament seeking to have appointed state officers who are under graft investigations forced to step aside for 90 days even before they are charged.
The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill 2020, sponsored by Majority leader Aden Duale seeks to amend several other laws.
This followed a rigorous campaign by anti-graft agencies led by the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji, the government has petitioned Parliament to expunge Section 62(6) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act of 2003.
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The section protects elected leaders and independent officeholders such as commissioners from easily being forced out of office through graft prosecution.
If the proposed changes are approved, governors charged with corruption would be suspended at half pay with effect from the date of the charge until the conclusion of the case.
This would also apply to the Deputy President. The only office-bearer exempted from the guillotine is the President who is entitled to immunity from any criminal prosecution for the duration of his tenure.
This move keeps in line with Uhuru’s often stated claim that winning the war against corruption and uniting the country is among the major issues he wants as his legacy.
“It is my hope that I will leave a united and cohesive society, and that we shall have won the war on corruption”
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