A lawmaker was found guilty of bribery, financial crimes, and impersonating corruption investigators, and he was sentenced to 67 years in prison in addition to a $7 million fine for corruption. A top civil servant was issued a seizure order against her, and other lawmakers were also found guilty of these charges.
All of them are running for office in the presidential and legislative elections that will take place in Kenya on August 9. This is fueling voter dissatisfaction over pervasive corruption in a country that has been regarded for a long time as one of East Africa’s most dynamic democracies.
The government’s watchdog agency against bribery and corruption, known as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), suggested that 241 candidates be barred from standing for office; however, this was only done with 5 of them.
The electoral board refused to comment on individual cases but did highlight that the constitution only authorises it to reject candidates on the basis of convictions if the applicants have pursued all available options of appeal.
According to Phillip Kagucia, who serves as the deputy director of the EACC, “the politicians who created the constitution ensured that they had a backdoor.” This backdoor leaves us open to leadership that does not uphold ethical standards.
Behind him, there is a wall that has been embellished with printouts of Bible texts that talk about good administration.
The EACC provided Reuters with a list of applicants that need to be disqualified. On that list were 55 individuals who had been charged with criminal offences, three of whom had convictions, and 11 who were under investigation. Others have been accused of falsifying their educational credentials or failing to resign from their public sector jobs, both of which are prerequisites for running for office.
Both of the leading contenders for president, Deputy President William Ruto and veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, have both said that they want to combat corruption if they are elected. However, such assurances fall on deaf ears for a great number of Kenyans who have lost hope.
Daniel Musau, who drives a bike taxi in Nairobi, said that corruption is a significant problem in the city. “It discourages people from casting ballots. Because of the problem of corruption, there are a great number of people who do not have voting cards.
The failure of voter registration activities to concentrate even half of the 6 million citizens was one of the lowest ranges seen since multi-occasion democracy was established in 1992.