Why the hell do governors think they shouldn’t be investigated or even step aside to allow investigations into accusations of corruption against them? From the little knowledge I have on devolution, governors are public officers, just like MPs or senators, and thus subject to the rules governing public officers.
The recent report named a good number of governors as corruption suspects. Most of the public officers in the EACC report have already stepped aside to pave way for investigations, regardless of their rank. Governors should face same fate. The argument that they are elected and thus not subject to stepping aside is as hollow as it is fallacious.
If an MP, for instance, is accused of corruption or any abuse of office he must step aside. Ditto the president, deputy president, cabinet secretaries, MCAs etc. We can’t have different laws to apply to different classes of leaders. The bottomline is that governors are entrusted with managing public funds and if their management practices are unbecoming they have no moral authority sitting in their offices.
The last time I checked our Penal Code presumes a suspect innocent till proven guilty. Being suspected is just the first step to establishing the truth about the accused’s character in public office. No need to cry foul.
Of course being accused comes with a negative tag but that’s the price you pay when your processes are not transparent enough not to raise eyebrows. And talking of that, the spirited defense by governors against stepping aside is very telling. The guilty are always afraid. One is tempted to imagine the governors must be having something to hide.
Independent investigations can only take place if the suspects, in this case the governors, are out of office. This will reduce interference and intimidation of investigators and county officials.
There shouldn’t be debate on this. The law is very clear: if a suspect can’t step aside he or she can be physically arrested and remanded as investigations are done. That’s the kind of movie action Kenyans would like to see if the president and EACC are serious about fighting corruption.
The picture of former Kenya Tourism Board MD Ong’ong’a Ochieng in court and eventually in jail for corruption, while sympathetic and demeaning for his calibre, sent a chilly message to public officers who turn government into private business. But it seems that wasn’t strong enough to scare a whole lot of public officers.
A handcuffed governor or CS being escorted to jail will tip the scales in the fight against corruption. EACC, please give us something to talk about before the budget.
The writer is managing editor of businesstoday.co.ke. Email: [email protected]
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