War on corruption to resume at full throttle at the grassroots

 

The government will strengthen the war on corruption at the grassroots by putting to use county anti-corruption civilian oversight committees.

This has been announced by State Law and Administrative Justice CAS Winnie Guchu after a meeting with Kirinyaga county’s Caccoc members.

Caccocs were created in 2006 with the aim of creating awareness at the county levels on issues pertaining to corruption and progress of development projects initiated by national and county governments.

Guchu said the committees' work has stalled for a year because of several interruptions, including the Covid-19 crisis. She, however, noted that with health protocols in place, logistical plans will be put in place to enable services to resume by January 2021.

“We have made new institutional arrangements to make sure the work plans the members formulate are implemented and their allowances are paid on time,” she said.

She urged members of the public to be co-partakers in the fight against graft by refraining from acts of corruption. She said the vice is fuelled by wananchi.

“If we have to break the chains of corruption then we have to take a firm stand of not tolerating corruption as it is a two-way traffic model. I have also asked the committee members to identify various ways corrupt acts take place on the ground,” Gachu said.

The CAS praised the members for the pivotal role they play in whistleblowing against suspected corruption. In future, she said, the county teams will have close collaboration with the office of the county commissioner to know the progress of ongoing and stalled projects.

"We have had discussions on how our regional coordinator can be part of the team that attends the frequent meetings shared by the county commissioners in a bid to assess the state of ongoing and stalled projects and actions that need to be taken."

On bringing services of the Attorney General's office closer to the people of Kirinyaga, Guchu said they held discussions with the county commissioner to have the State Law Office establish a branch in the county.

This move will be a great relief to residents who have been travelling to Embu county in search of the services. She said the decentralisation of the office will be implemented in all the 47 counties. Currently, only 13 counties have offices.