State officers who cannot account for their wealth and those who have acquired it through illegal means are in for a rough time after the lifestyle audit team outlined some of the audit guidelines.
The team has proposed that all state officers be forced to surrender any money and physical assets that they cannot account for to the government.
The group of experts mainly drawn from the financial and the legal professions indicates that President Uhuru Kenyatta can select a permanent team including foreigners, EACC Commissioners or Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA.)
[caption caption="DPP Noordin Haji appearing before a parliamentary committee"]
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The experts who were selected after President Kenyatta ordered a national wide audit and also want the officers found guilty arrested and prosecuted.
The files for those found culpable will be forwarded to the office of the DPP for further review.
After the annual audit, civil servants will also sign a code of conduct and declare that they have no conflict of interest before taking up the state jobs.
An Executive Order on the functioning of the audit will be presented to the president for assent and signature.
Civil servants will also be expected to submit all the details of foreign bank accounts and in order to open new ones, they will have to seek for approval from the commission.
This move will enforce Article 76 (2) which states that all should not operate a bank account with a go-ahead from the EACC.
If Uhuru accepts this proposal, state officers will have to receive any gift they receive as the property of the state.
Lifestyle audit will be done in accordance to the Public Ethics Officers Act; the Leadership Integrity Act 2012 and the Anti-Corruption and Economics Crime Act of 2003.
EACC and KRA are also mandated to inspect and investigate their accounts at least once per year and take over the assets that cannot be accounted for.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta addressing MPs in Statehouse"]
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