As pressure continues to pile on the Kenya Kwanza regime to show more accountability in the use of public resources, the government has announced several new stringent measures to deal with corruption.
President William Ruto chaired a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, September 17 – the first since he formed the broad-based Cabinet.
During the meeting, the cabinet considered several policy proposals aimed at supporting the rollout of different programs by the government. Also key on the agenda was corruption, which Ruto vowed to fight, mainly through accountability.
From the meeting, the Cabinet decided to implement surcharges against any public officer whose actions led to the loss of public resources.
The officer would also be held liable if his omissions lead to losses, in line with Articles 226(5), 201(d), and 232(b) of the Constitution.
Government officials embroiled in corruption scandals will also face speedy prosecution as the Cabinet seeks to amend the Evidence Act and Criminal Procedure Code to ensure graft cases are concluded within six months.
In a bid to eliminate the issue of ‘ghost worker payroll’ which has plagued different regimes over the years, the Cabinet was also informed of a plan to implement a digitised Personnel Identification System for government officers.
A framework is also in the works to ensure all public officers are adequately vetted, and wealth declaration centralised under a single office in government.
Amid concern in recent months over state abductions, the government also plans to review the Witness Protection act to provide incentives for whistleblowers.
At the meeting, the President said that considerable progress had been made in terms of the ambitious promises he had made to Kenyans early on in his tenure as Head of State.
Another key government programme – the Universal Health Coverage – was also mentioned in the cabinet meeting, with its official rollout set to take place from October 1 2024.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE