President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered top officials in government who have been adversely mentioned in corruption to step aside pending investigation.
The officials include Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Chief Executives of state corporations. The President made the order in his State of the Nation address to Parliament on Thursday.
Kenyatta’s stern directive came after he received a report from the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission, which contained a catalogue of allegations of high-level corruption touching on all arms and levels of Government.
The Commission he said had reported that it was under siege because of the nature of the cases they are currently investigating.
“I hereby direct that all Officials of the National and County governments that are adversely mentioned in this report, whether you are a Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary, or Chief Executive of a state institution, to immediately step aside pending conclusion of the investigations of the allegations against them,” stated the president.
“The investigating authority must ensure that the Director of Public Prosecutions has received the subject files without delay.”
A number of officials in various ministries are listed in the report, whose names were not yet out by press time.
Kenyatta received a standing ovation upon the declaration. His speech was described by especially opposition politicians as the best he had ever made.
“Let me reiterate that it is not my place to determine the guilt or otherwise of any of the people mentioned in the said report or any other. However, the time has come to send a strong signal to the country that my administration will accept nothing less than the highest standard of integrity from those that hold high office,” added the president.
Mr Kenyatta noted that Kenya was on the right path of transformation but that his administration and the nation were confronted by both the reality and perception of pervasive corruption.
I share in the frustration of Kenyans at the slow pace and lack of results from the mechanisms created to help us tackle with this monster.
Kenyatta also issued an apology to the numerous victims of events that rocked the nation including those of the 2007 post-election violence.
“I seek your forgiveness and may God give us the Grace to draw on the lessons of this history… to unite as a people and, together … embrace our future as one people and one nation,” he noted.
