Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) chairperson, Dr. Eliud Wabukala, on Monday, February 16 called for auditing of the military accounts for the purpose of accountability.
According to the EACC boss, the anti-graft agency did not have the authority to probe the use of funds in the military but measures can be put in place to prevent misuse of tax payer’s money.
The Kenya Defence Forces, through the Ministry of Defence, is one of the institutions that get a lion's share of taxpayer funds through the national budget allocations.
“Billions of shillings allocated to the military are not audited unlike other State agencies raising suspicion of malpractices within the uniformed forces,” said Wabukala.
The EACC chairperson further noted that even though the state department is under national security, there is a need to audit the annual budgetary allocation.
“Military resources are managed behind a veil of secrecy, justified on grounds of national security and such resources can easily be wasted or stolen if strong preventive measures are not put in place,” he said.
Wabukala highlighted that the anti-corruption agency is aware that the KDF is also affected by corruption and misconduct in its operations.
The retired cleric highlighted some of the unethical and corruption measures in the forces including; bribery, collusion in promotions, embezzlement of funds and fraud among others.
He said these while speaking during a week-long workshop organized by the National Integrity Academy for senior officials of the armed forces in Lake Naivasha Resort.
Referring to a survey conducted by the commission, Wabukala indicated that corruption is still a major challenge the country is facing at 49.4 percent. It is followed by unemployment and poverty at 36.8 and 27.2 percent respectively.
“In our communities, 67 percent of Kenyans do nothing in the fight against corruption and unethical conduct with only 5.8 percent reporting graft incidences,” said EACC boss.
The commission chairperson noted the commission had concluded 824 corruption-related cases in the past five years.
Wabukala also said that in collaboration with the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), the commission has secured convictions of 153 out of 244 corruption cases.
In addition, the agency has recovered assets worth Ksh19.9 billion of un-explained wealth.
