A fresh round of high profile prosecutions of corruption suspects is expected this week.
Sources at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission said last night 25 individuals named in the Ruaraka land scandal and four governors - two from Mt Kenya and a third from Nyanza - form part of the list.
Senior government officials whose names are in the files include two principal secretaries, holders of constitutional commission offices and directors of parastatals.
The Directorate of Public Prosecution and the EACC meet today to review the 48 files.
Sources said about 150 suspects will be charged if the DPP agrees with the recommendations in the files.
The accusations range from abuse of office to procurement related cases.
Last week, EACC boss Halakhe Waqo told the Senate committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights the high voltage files had “water tight evidence” for DPP to uphold the recommendations.
On Thursday, the National Assembly Land committee tabled a report recommending National Land Commission chairman Muhammad Swazuri and his commissioners be investigated in connection with the controversial Sh3.2 billion Ruaraka land saga.
The Ruaraka land dispute involves two private firms and two public schools. The parcel hosts Ruaraka High School and Drive Inn Primary School. It neighbours GSU headquarters, De La Rue and the Kenya School of Monetary Studies.
Afrison Export-Import Limited and Huelands Limited claim the 13.7 acres. Directors of the firms say they sold the land to the government for Sh3.2 billion and have been paid Sh1.5 billion.
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Yesterday, Deputy President William Ruto and other leaders urged politicians to stop meddling in the fight against corruption. A number of government officials and traders suspected of involvement in the National Youth Service procurement scandal have been charged.
Among the top names in court in relation to the NYS scandal are Permanent Secretary Lillian Omollo and NYS director Richard Ndubai
Speaking in Mombasa, Ruto said graft is a monster that must be fought by all people working together including government agencies and Kenyans.
“God gave us this country and the resources in it to defend,” he said.
He said the leadership of the country has a God-given duty to ensure theft of public property is prevented and that it is well utilised.
Ruto cautioned against allowing some people to politicise the fight against corruption.
“Do not allow pettiness to derail the war on graft,” he said.
Speaking at St Peter’s ACK church in Nyali, Ruto asked the church not to abdicate its moral duty to help the country stay clean. He said the renewed war on corruption will be fair to all.
“This is a moral war and the church must take the lead as well,” Ruto said.
He warned leaders involved in corruption who tend to hide behind religion, race, ethnicity and party affiliation that they have no place in society.
“The agenda of the Government of Kenya has no sides, no politics. It is blind to religion and political affiliation,” he said.
Quoting the Bible, Ruto said, “2 Thessalonians 3: 10 says he who does not work should not eat.”
Senate Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungw’a warned corrupt individuals against running to their communities when they are caught in corruption deals.
“This corruption issue will interfere with the Big Four agenda. We have thieves in national and county governments and they should not hide behind their communities because corruption has no tribe. Their place should be in jail,” Kindiki said.
“As we support the Jubilee agenda, we will stand firm as Parliament to ensure action is taken against those engaging in corruption,” Ichungw’a said.
Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi said all institutions constituted to fight corruption must be supported. He said politicians should not defend suspects.
“Leaders must make concerted efforts in the war against graft and tame divisive politics of defending culprits in the pretext of this belongs to our tribe,” he said.
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Amani National Congress party leader Musalia Mudavadi called for a thorough probe into the current corruption cases to ensure all looters face the law.
Mudavadi said DCI boss George Kinoti and DPP Noordin Haji should up their game and set an example on how to deal with perpetrators of corruption.
He said most high profile graft cases are bungled at the investigation level with compromised officers conducting shoddy investigations and presenting weak evidence in court.
The NASA co-principal hailed the efforts so far made by Haji and Kinoti in bringing to book suspects linked to various scandals in government institutions.
The government is digging into multi-billion scandals at the NYS (Sh9 billion), Ruaraka land saga (Sh3.2 billion), Kenya Pipeline Company (Sh646 million) and the NCPB scandal (Sh1.9 billion).
“We want all the agencies involved to do proper investigations. We don’t want to hear people have been arrested and released because there is no evidence, “ Mudavadi said.
“What is before the judge is what will determine the case and we don’t want an excuse of no evidence when the cases are finally presented before the courts.”
Speaking after Sunday service at Church of God Mariakani, Nairobi, Mudavadi linked the heavy borrowing by the Jubilee government to the runaway corruption, saying the country is losing twice.
“They are borrowing on one hand while on the other side it is being stolen,” he said.
National debt, he warned, has skyrocketed to worrying levels during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration and risks plunging the country into economic crisis.
He said the high level of graft is testimony that voters did not conduct due diligence during the August 7, 2017 elections.
“We should stop arguing that it is God who gives leaders. Was it God who gave Germans Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin to Uganda? It is not God who gives bad leaders. It is we the electorate who give ourselves bad leaders,” Mudavadi said.
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