Clerics and religious leaders have called for President Uhuru Kenyatta to declare corruption a national disaster.
The leaders stated that the move would ensure the war against graft was treated with the importance it deserves.
They further explained that it would entail adoption of ‘extraordinary’ measures to combat the vice.
National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) Secretary-General Rev Canon Peter Karanja backed the sentiments stating that it would go a long way in realizing the aspirations outlined in Uhuru's Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NASA leader Raila Odinga.
Karanja further proposed that amnesty be given to those willing to surrender wealth they had acquired from proceeds of corruption.
[caption caption="Canon Peter Karanja with Archbishop Peter Kivuva launching the National Dialogue Framework in Nairobi on July 4, 2018 (Courtesy)"]
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He maintained that many would want to admit to past corrupt dealings but were scared away by the potential prosecution and stay in jail.
“We urge the president to pardon those who come out and own up their past corruption dealings and that they only be required to return the coffers they took.
"However, those who do not adhere to this, and also those who are caught in corrupt scandals henceforth, should be stringently persecuted,” Karanja suggested.
The group’s chair Archbishop Martin Kivuva alluded to ongoing scandals as he asserted that radical action needed to be taken to get rid of corruption.
“These scandals reveal that corruption is a cancer that has pervaded every sector of our society, and which the current laws have proved inadequate to address. There is therefore an urgent need to take radical action to eradicate it and give the country a new beginning,” he stated.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta"]
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