The enforcement of the government move to ban State Officers and civil servants to participate in harambees to deter corruption and abuse of office is likely to face hurdles even as the country awaits for the regulations.
Nominated MP John Mbadi said the move will be counterproductive as politicians will start using proxies to make their contributions.
According to Mbadi, who 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 aid instead of a ban, the government should push disclosure of the amount of money contributed from harambees.
He termed the proposal as discriminatory as people who don’t fall in the category of State officers or Civil Servants and are eying political seats will seize the opportunity to start harambees in constituencies they are eying to the detriment of the incumbent.
“As it is, the law has gaps, it is discriminative. If you must put a law on harambee then let it cover everyone. Let us have a proposal that anyone contributing in harambees is banned from state jobs or any running for any political seat for five years,” Mr Mbadi said.
However, Wajir West MP Yussuf Farah said the move has come as a big relief to MPs whom he said have been left with the burden of shouldering societal problems.
Although he also termed the directive as discriminative, he said the move will now help other members of the society to participate in the welfare of the people as MPs now fully concentrate on their core duties.
“It’s good for us, we have been bombarded with harambees and you cannot turn them down even if you don’t have money. Now let others with energy and money continue helping the community,” Mr Farah said.
“Let us now do our legislative and oversight role only,” he added
Frankline Mukhwanja, the executive director at the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD-Kenya) faulted the government over the move saying they are only treating symptoms and not the real problems the country is facing.
Mr Mukhwanja pointed out that it will be an uphill task to implement the ban saying Kenyans look at politicians as rich and generous and therefore should assist them in their social welfare problems warning that those who don’t are normally punished heavily during elections
“It is a wrong diagnosis. If we address the problem of poor service delivery and quality healthcare then people don’t need harambees. If the healthcare is poor, why stop people from seeking help to go to India,”
“We are saying the opulence is being demonstrated through harambees, this is not true. People take advantage of this to acquire wealth,” he added.
Transparency International on Thursday told the Nation that they welcome the move terming it a critical step towards curbing corruption and abuse of office.
“We urge robust enforcement and call for vigilant monitoring to prevent any circumvention of this directive, ensuring accountability and integrity in public service,” the agency said.
It also called for speedy enactment of law that will facilitate structured and transparent contributions for public, charitable and philanthropic purposes.
Further, the agency also called for comprehensive lifestyle audits aligned with the public officers Ethics Act, 2033 in order to effectively verify assets, liabilities and income in order to deter illicit accumulation of wealth.
On Tuesday, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei on Tuesday said harambee which has existed since independence has been abused by government officers.
In a circular, Mr Koskei said the government is working on modalities to ensure compliance.
Those to be affected by the ban include those employed by the Public Service Commission, Parliamentary Service Commission, Judicial Service Commission, Teachers Service Commission and the National Police Service Commission.
Mr Koskei said in collaboration with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the government will establish an institutional framework to monitor compliance.
Last week, President William Ruto banned all State and public officers from participating in harambees and directed Attorney General Justin Muturi to draft a legislation that will guide transparent 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,” President Ruto said.
