President William Ruto's Cabinet on Tuesday, February 28, approved a bill seeking to limit the involvement of civil servants in individual businesses.
The decision was made during a cabinet sitting presided over by the Head of State that took place at State House in Nairobi.
According to a Cabinet dispatch obtained by Kenyans.co.ke, the proposed bill titled Conflict of Interest Bill, 2023, will help prevent "real, apparent, or potential conflict between the private interests" and discharge of their official duties.
President Ruto and his cabinet members affirmed that the bill was part of their commitment to promoting good governance and national ethos.
"The Bill seeks to provide a framework for the management of conflict of interest on the part of State and Public Officers arising from the discharge of their official duties," the statement read in part.
The Bill, once passed into law, will provide a framework for the management of potential conflicts of interest that would hinder government officers from giving full attention to their mandate which - according to the resolutions, led to cases where public officials subordinate their duties to private interests.
In addition, Cabinet reviewed a previous Cabinet decision of 1971 adopting the Ndegwa Commission Report of 1971’s that allowed public servants a nearly unlimited scope to engage in private interests and commercial affairs.
"The bill will herald a new dawn in the management of public affairs by introducing strong legal safeguards against the real, apparent, or potential conflict between the private interests of public servants on one hand and the public interest and their official duties," the document read.
The bill will be forwarded to Parliament for consideration subject to the process laid down in the constitution.
Concerns about public officers engaging in personal businesses at the expense of service delivery have been raised in the past.
Cases of government officials pursuing and influencing the award of tenders using their capacities have also been in the spotlight before in what was seen as a leading avenue to corruption.
In 2019, the cabinet of former President Uhuru Kenyatta proposed a bill that would see public servants declare their wealth including rental income, business income, farming income, and investment dividends.
The bill was conceived as part of the government's efforts to curtail cases of corruption and embezzlement mainly through conflicting interests.
All cabinet secretaries and public officials would, according to the proposal, submit a declaration to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for reference purposes.
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