The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has called out political analyst, Kipchumba Karori, over comments he made on NTV on Thursday, August 25, on the integrity oath taken by newly sworn-in governors.
In a statement dated Friday, August 26, EACC stated that the NTV panelist misled Kenyans after he termed the signing of integrity oaths by state officers as mediocre.
EACC urged Karori to read the Leadership and Integrity Act of 2012 and acquit himself with its provisions on the integrity oath.
"We sensitize him and others that besides coercive law enforcement, EACC is mandated to prevent corruption through integrity promotion.
"The integrity codes signed by all governors and their deputies alongside their oath of office are a critical anti-corruption measure. The said NTV panelist in Ben Kitili's show is encouraged to familiarize himself with Sections 37-40 of the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012," read the EACC statement in part.
During the Thursday night show, Karori opined that the EACC needed to focus more on blocking corrupt aspirants from the polls rather than having them sign integrity oaths.
"We are glorifying mediocrity. We need to call EACC out for trying to do mediocre acts on Kenyans. There are 7 laws that stipulate how governors and their deputies should conduct themselves.
"EACC should be serious and help us weed out mediocre leaders during party nominations. They should make it mandatory that EACC should run through the list of parties during the nominations," Karori stated.
In response, EACC noted that the fight against corruption did not solely lie on the integrity body, stating that other stakeholders needed to play their part.
"Contrary to Karori's misleading views during the NTV show, corruption must be attacked from all fronts, including enforcement of public integrity standards. EACC does not sit to wait for corruption in order to fight it. We must proactively prevent it," EACC stated.
In the signed integrity oath, newly sworn-in governors pledged not to involve themselves in corruption, influence the county government tendering process and declare wealth outside the country among others.
45 recently elected governors took oath of office on Thursday, August 25.
