YVONNE’S TAKE: Questions as Gov't probes Uhuru claim that Kenya loses Ksh.2B a day

A few years ago, a claim was made, one that has now been bandied about rather often. This claim was made by the former President of the Republic, that Kenya loses Ksh.2 billion a day through corruption.

Now, let me paint the context at the time. When he made the statement, there was a big push to amend the country’s supreme law through a process termed the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). There was much debate about the process, whether it was warranted, justified and the cost of the process to the taxpayer. 

The President’s claim was made at this time, not during an anti-corruption conference or some such specific event tackling this troubling issue, but rather, the statement was made in the heat of a political moment. It was in fact during an interview with local vernacular radio stations to make a strong case for his pet subject at the time, the BBI process.

When asked about the cost, he dismissed talk of a costly referendum drive, claiming the alleged Ksh.2 billion was more than what was being corruptly siphoned from public coffers. It was a heated moment, a moment of passionate defence following a barrage of questions on this issue over quite some time.

Was it Scientific? Was it backed by facts? Well, we cannot tell, but that it came at a time as that, is anyone’s guess as to its weight and indeed, whether it could be cited in any other context. 

But now, years later, the government wants to probe the veracity of this statement. Why? We don’t know yet. What we do know, and what we have been told is that it will cost some amount of money.

How much? We don’t know. Who is funding it? We have no idea, other than the report that there is a yet unnamed mystery donor. The outcome of the probe, we don’t know. What will we do with the results of it? Well, we don’t know that either. We don’t even know the commission, team or group of people that will conduct this probe, or what their mandate will be. How long they will do this work or indeed who they report to? 

So, here we are probing a statement that if you ask me, was made in defence of a hugely unpopular political push with mystery donor funds.

Surely, is there no better way to spend those mystery funds, or indeed to fight corruption? And why is its funder a mystery to begin with? What are their intentions? Should we not put our minds and efforts and indeed all the resources we can put together into fighting corruption?

I am sure all the enforcement and investigative agencies could do well with a boost in their quest to tame the vice, from the police to the DCI, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Judiciary to the office of the Controller of Budget, from the Auditor General to all other arms and agencies that I’m sure, could do with a shot in the arm.

Because we know so little about this supposed probe, its funders and even the team conducting the probe, how transparent will it be? How accountable will it be? To whom will it be accountable? Let me remind us all that transparency and accountability are key elements in the fight against corruption.