The Ethics and Anti - Corruption Commission (EACC) CEO Halakhe Waqo on Wednesday responded hours after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) returned case files that did not meet prosecution threshold.
Speaking during a joint presser with DPP Noordin Haji at the Commission's Headquarters at Integrity Center, Waqo revealed that EACC has achieved 79 percent convictions on all the cases they have investigated.
On a concurrence rate, this translates to 99 percent of the cases or that for every ten cases forwarded to the DPP’s office, nine have been successfully prosecuted.
[caption caption="EACC CEO Halakhe Waqo with DPP Noordin Haji"]
[/caption]
"The records we have show that in 2016/17 financial year, we had 33 cases concluded by court out of which 25 were convictions, five discharges, and three acquittals," the CEO noted.
"If matters change from now henceforth, time will tell and records will tell. But for now, I want us to be that forthright. We do our work intensely," he concluded.
His sentiments came hours after the DPP informed the Senate Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs that three out of four files the EACC forwarded to his office concerning governors implicated in corruption cases, lacked sufficient evidence hence could not be prosecuted.
"The truth of the matter is that there were gaps and there are gaps and there are no two ways.
"Where there are, we will point out and return to the EACC to ask them to do further investigations and to bring the required evidence," Haji concluded.
Noordin, however, noted that returning the files back to the EACC does not point to incompetence on the commission’s side contrary to public opinion and allegations.
[caption caption="File image of DPP Noordin Haji"]
[/caption]
EACC's failure to prosecute big fish implicated in various corruption scandals has seen Kenyans question its capacity to investigate prosecutable cases with some calling for the disbandment of the commission.
