President William Ruto has banned all state and public officers from participating in fundraising popularly known as harambees and directed Attorney General Justin Muturi to draft a legislation that will guide transparent contributions.
In his address to the Nation, President Ruto told the Attorney to submit the legislation for considerations to guide contributions.
“No state officer or public servant shall participate in public contributions or harambees going forward. The Attorney General is hereby directed to prepare and submit legislation to this effect and develop a mechanism for structured and transparent contributions for public, charitable and philanthropic purposes,” he said.
Dr Ruto’s order joins a long list of previous attempts by Parliament to regulate harambees have failed, piling pressure on lawmakers to get it right this time.
Both the 11th and 12th parliament all tried in vain to legislate on measures that would have guided contributions.
In the 11th Parliament, then Kisumu Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o sponsored the Public Fundraising Appeals Bill, 2014, which sought to provide stringent measures for a person seeking to conduct a harambee.
Among the provisions of the Bill was a clause that required one to apply for a licence every time before you conduct a fundraiser for whatever reason that was included in the bill was cited as reason for its shoot down.
“A person who intends to conduct a fundraising appeal will not do so unless a person has applied for and obtained a licence in accordance with the provisions of the Act,” the Bill read.
Prof Nyong’o argued that harambees have been abused and the Bill aimed at bringing sanity in public fundraising. Although the Bill received support in the Senate, it was shot down in the National Assembly.
Among the people that vehemently opposed the Bill was the current Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale who was then the Majority leader. He said no one can stop the practice.
“In my community and where I come from, charity and giving is a virtue. People contribute money to build mosques and schools. People contribute to send children to school and most of us are beneficiaries. There is no way we can stop this practice,” he said.
In the 12th Parliament, both John Mbadi and former Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni all came up with separate Bills to control harambees but both proposals did not see the light of day.
In his proposal, Mr Kioni, then chairman of Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee, sponsored the Public Fundraiser Appeals Bill, 2019, that was seeking to bar MPs and MCAs from taking part in fundraising drives during their term in office.
The bill was also seeking to regulate the amount of money to be used in funding the drive and planning expenses be capped at not more than five per cent of the targeted amount.
Mr Kioni wanted those contributing money in harambees to specify its source and declare the same in the income tax returns submitted by that person pursuant to the Income Tax Act.
Former Minority leader Mbadi also sponsored the Public Officer Ethics (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in that the 12th parliament that sought to compel any public officer who donates more than Sh100,000 in a harambee to declare the source of the cash to the EACC within 14 days of doing so.
Mr Mbadi wanted sections 13, 26, 28 and 30 of the Public Officer Ethics Act, 2003, amended to ensure that no money corruptly obtained finds its way into fundraising activities to hoodwink voters.
“The bill requires a public officer who contributes an amount exceeding Sh100, 000 to a public function to file a return with the commission stating the source of such funds for the public record and requires the commission to make all declarations, clarifications, and returns made by a public officer accessible to the public,” the proposed amendments read.
