President Uhuru Kenyatta finally listened to the cries of many Kenyans and heeded to their calls to tackle corruption more aggressively than he had.
Kenyans for long had wondered why many corruption suspects were yet to be jailed. However, this may change after the president ordered Director of Public Prosecution, Noordin Haji, to step up his fight against graft.
BBC, on Thursday, January 16, reported that Haji, who met Kenyatta in a private meeting in the Coast on Monday, January 13, disclosed that Kenyatta challenged prosecutors to secure high-status convictions in 2020.
In the past years, high-profile suspects have been arrested, prosecuted for corruption but the conviction rate fell below expectations.
On Tuesday, January 15, Kenyatta affirmed his war on graft, arguing that he would not relent to bring the suspects to book, directing the Judiciary to speed up the cases.
"I want to renew my pledge to you on this fight. I will not turn to the right or to the left. I will not soft-pedal or backpedal. I have been on the front line. And since I respect the principle of separation of powers, I have no powers of convicting the accused. I have done my part. And I will continue to do so.
"Now the Judiciary should give us convictions as an indication that we are winning in this war. We cannot be a country where those who work hard are robbed of their profits by those too lazy to invest and produce," Kenyatta directed.
Many cases have also dragged in court for so long, with the likes of former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, spending over a year walking in and out in the corridors of justice.
With this new move, embattled Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko, and his Kiambu and Samburu counterparts, Ferdinand Waititu and Moses Lenolkulal respectively, alongside former Treasury CS Henry Rotich, who are battling corruption cases in court may find themselves in tight spots.
Haji further revealed that the government had recovered stolen assets worth Ksh2 billion.
Despite the win, this is still a hurdle to Haji as the recovered assets are only one per cent of an estimated Ksh2 trillion public money which has allegedly been lost in embezzlement and fraud.
