As he took his oath of office yesterday, the new Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) chairman David Oginde noted – humorously – that many Kenyans had commiserated, sympathised and prayed for him as he took on the task of taming the country’s “worst enemy”.
Dr Oginde succeeds Archbishop (Rtd) Eliud Wabukala, whose six-year term expired on January 17.
Bishop Oginde, who will serve for a non-renewable six-year term, promised to serve selflessly and work with others to make Kenya an integrity-driven society.
He joins the anti-graft agency shortly after the withdrawal of high-profile corruption cases and the appointment of individuals with pending graft cases to top public offices.
In the past seven months, the Director of Public Prosecutions has withdrawn about 10 high-profile graft cases involving senior government officials.
These include Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Sh7. 3 billion graft case, Public Service CS Aisha Jumwa’s Sh19 billion graft case and former Kenya Power MD Sh400 million graft case.
Yesterday, former Transport CS Engineer Michael Kamau’s Sh33 million graft case, which has been pending in court for the past eight years, was also withdrawn under Section 87 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows for a suspect to be rearrested once strong evidence has been gathered by investigating agencies.
The withdrawal of these cases has drawn the ire of Kenyans, the opposition and civil society, who have accused the ODPP of serving at the whim of the Kenya Kwanza government.
Transparency International-Kenya termed the withdrawal of the cases a mockery of the integrity principles enshrined in Chapter Six of the Constitution.
The Bishop’s key tasks include working to restore public confidence, while building on the commission’s successful track record of asset recovery, ensuring that integrity is upheld in government appointments and strengthening policies to curb widespread corruption in the public sector.
Dr Oginde assured the country that he would provide leadership in formulating effective anti-corruption strategies and promoting ethics, integrity and good governance by working with others in the justice sector and involving civilians in the war on graft.
“While I do not presume to know what it will take to tackle this menace, I intend to build on the efforts of my predecessors, especially our immediate past chairman Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, under whose leadership the EACC experienced much stability and many assets were recovered," said Dr Oginde.
While Archbishop (Rtd) Wabukala rarely spoke out and publicly, in his tenure the commission recovered public assets, including nearly half a billion in stolen money and more than Sh5.2 billion in grabbed public land.
The commission has also frozen accounts containing billions of funds, including Sh1.9 billion acquired by former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu.
Bishop Oginde acknowledged that corruption is "deep-rooted, widespread and pervasive”.
During his confirmation hearing in Parliament, the Bishop proposed that the EACC be given prosecutorial powers, promised to introduce strict timelines for the completion of graft cases and set a higher threshold for the dismissal of graft cases.
Also sworn in yesterday were Abdirahman Adan Abdikadir and Jin Mohamed Huzna as members of the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal, and Mr Edwin Kiprono Cheluget as a member of the National Police Service Commission.
Chief Justice Martha Koome urged the officials not to deviate from the oaths they had taken and to uphold the rule of law in their various roles.
