UK High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott and US Ambassador Kyle McCarter demanded accountability from Health CS Mutahi Kagwe over the embezzlement of Coronavirus (Covid-19) funds.
During an interview with Citizen TV's Waihiga Mwaura on Tuesday, August 11, the two diplomats questioned Kagwe's efforts to bring graft suspects to book, with Marriott demanding that he takes responsibility for the scandal.
An exposé by a local daily detailed how officials at both the national and county levels inflated prices of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to squander money donated to save Kenyans from the pandemic.
Marriott argued that the head of an organisation takes responsibility at such moments and if it were under her jurisdiction, she would have set the culture, expectations and disciplinary measures.
"I am a very big believer in the chain coming from the top and we have seen President Uhuru Kenyatta crackdown on corruption. Stealing money at the expense of the death of your fellow citizens is not acceptable. No system is perfect but what matters is how it is going to be fixed," Marriott stated.
The Commissioner played cagey with whether CS Kagwe should tender in his resignation and heaped the blame on the entire country which she says is listed among the top 137 most corrupt nations in the world. She further urged investigative bodies to expedite the war on corruption.
US Ambassador Kyle McCarter on his end added that Kagwe needed to be accountable to the donors who aid Kenya through funds and the same should be channeled to Kenya's administrators who should stand up and account for every coin spent.
McCarter detailed that an emergency was not an excuse for embezzling donor funds and failing to deliver to the people in dire need of help.
"It is not just about Ksh 800 billion of public funds every year. It is about the value of the Big 4 Agenda. If you get rid of politics you can achieve the Big 4. They are stealing Kenyan lives through the PPEs scandal and there needs to be a huge outrage on this scandal," McCarter weighed in.
The two diplomats joined calls by former Presidential aspirant Martha Karua and former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo to have CS Kagwe and President Uhuru Kenyatta explain how Covid-19 funds were being spent.
On Monday, August 10, CS Kagwe responded to these calls, arguing that it would take time for cartels at the Ministry of Health to be dismantled as they had infiltrated the justice system to retain control of strategic positions in government.
Watch video of UK, US Ambassadors speaking on corruption in Kenya
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