The Building Bridges Initiative team wants the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) restructured to make it effective in its mandate. It proposes that ethics mandate be redirected to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission and EACC be renamed as Ethics Commission.
“The EACC should be focused on stopping economic crimes, and given constitutional protection as a Chapter 15 Commission. Its ethics mandate should be redirected to the NCIC, which should henceforth be renamed the Ethics Commission and its mandate refreshed in line with the Ethics Mission, and for it to be under the Office of the President,” says part of the report.
This means a referendum is likely given the commission lies under clauses in the 2010 Constitution that are protected. EACC was created in 2010 from the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission that was established under an Act of Parliament. The report, handed over to President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga yesterday, proposes making wealth declaration forms open to public scrutiny and making it illegal for public officers to do business with the government.
The BBI team also wants the digitizing of all government services, processes, payment systems, and record-keeping to seal some of the corruption loopholes. BBI is calling for closer supervision of county expenditure, noting that devolution had been compromised.
“It is also crucial for oversight to be strengthened. The response should be much stronger oversight by the responsible bodies, actions to cut wasteful costs and assign a greater proportion of county finances to development. The growing public perception of Kenya having a rigged system that rewards cronyism and corruption is the greatest risk to Kenya’s cohesion and security. Tackling corruption is the single most important mission Kenya has now,” the report reads.
EACC will be among institutions that will be overhauled if the recommendations of the BBI Taskforce are adopted. BBI team is also proposing introduction of ethics into school curriculum from nursery to university, and making it a compulsory subject.
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