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"id": 250455,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. G.G. Kariuki",
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"legal_name": "Godfrey Gitahi Kariuki",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, noting with concern the misappropriation of funds and the endemic corruption that has pervaded both the public and the private sector; in view of the commitment of the Government to curb this vice; and considering that a number of agencies have been put in place to investigate and collate evidence on the rampant misuse of public resources; this House resolves to establish a Select Committee to report on the performance and output of the anti-corruption institutions and make such recommendations as will be necessary to facilitate zero tolerance for corruption and related economic crimes; and that the following be appointed Members of the Committee:- The Chair, PAC The Chair, PIC The Hon. Capt. Davies Nakitare, MP The Hon. Dr. Sammy Rutto, MP The Hon. Daniel Khamasi, MP The Hon. Prof. Ruth Oniang'o, MP The Hon. G.G. Kariuki, E.G.H., MP The Hon. Jayne Kihara, MP The Hon. Omingo Magara, MP The Hon. Gonzi Rai, MP The Hon. Dr. Abdalla Ali, MP The Hon. Zaddock Syongoh, MP The Hon. Ochola Ogur, MP The Hon. Nyiva Mwendwa, MP The Hon. Katoo ole Metito, MP Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a few months ago, I attempted to move this Motion in this House, but I did not succeed. I moved this Motion with convinced principles that we, as Parliament, must give the citizens of this country what is due to them. What is due to the citizens of this country is when we decide that we shall perform a certain duty on behalf of Kenyans, for example, striving to eradicate corruption activities. We have to be concerned that whatever we have passed is effectively being implemented. I am not standing here to question the institutions that have already been established, nor am I questioning the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. What I am concerned with is whether Parliament can give itself authority to go into the deeper end of the war against corruption and to find out whether we are really performing or not. This proposed Committee is not meant to be a Departmental Committee of Parliament, rather it will be an ad hoc Committee that will be charged with the responsibility of investigating this matter and reporting to this House. The proposed Committee will be required to recommend whether PIC, PAC or any other body that I will mention need some teeth to bite. It will also point out the problems that hinder them from working effectively. The bodies which are now charged with the responsibility of May 3, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 877 dealing with anti-corruption activities in Kenya are for example, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC); the Kenya Police; Parliament, which is given powers by the Constitution under Section 57 to appoint any Committee that it deems fit to work for the good of the nation; PAC; PIC; Kenya National Audit Office (KNAO), and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) which is set up by an Act of Parliament. The others are the Efficiency Monitoring Unit (EMU) and the Department of Governance and Ethics, which was headed by Mr. Githongo. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what all these bodies are lacking is implementation and a way to know where their respective problems emanate from. I know that the Minister might talk about duplication and interference of responsibilities. However, it is high time we all understood what a national call is. I think the Minister will be too happy if we fail to have this Committee given enough power and supervision to make sure that they have teeth to bite. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we established the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) in this Parliament and it has been in operation for three years. Although they are required to be reporting their activities to this House, they do not do so. If they do so, they will be perceived to be rebels by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. The time has come for people who are charged with a responsibility like this one to come out because they are there for Kenyans and not the Minister or the Government. One is given a constitutional office in order to discharge his duties without fear or favour. It appears as if we still have the colonial mentality. We find that one is holding a constitutional office and, yet he still kneels down to some people in this country without giving Kenyans the service that they are supposed to get. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if the Committee is appointed in this House and it talks to the KACC, it will come up with some ideas and they will be told what problems the KACC is experiencing. The Kenya Police and the PAC will definitely say the same. My concern here is to empower these bodies and find out what problems they experience that are preventing them from performing. This Motion is seeking that we establish a Committee of this House to interview people who are in those bodies and ask them what they want Parliament to do for them to enable them to perform. If we find someone trying to force that kind of message, there could be something wrong. I have been a very senior Minister in the Government and I know this. Our attitude has been that we do not entertain Members of Parliament in our departments. That used to happen in the old days; maybe they do today. I am sure they are all sensitive when they hear that an hon. Member of Parliament is trying to understand how their work is done. They are very happy when they come here as Ministers to get what they need from Members of Parliament. When Members of Parliament ask them what they have done this is perceived as an interference. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the time has come when we should all change our attitudes. This country has given us power. We are discharging duties in this Parliament on behalf of the public. In other words, it is an institution of the common man. The common man has done his selection. They have elected us to be speaking for them without fear or favour. I have raised issues in several other forums about Members of Parliament who think that they do not have the power. There is no need for people to talk about interference by the police when we have the power to pass laws and say the following must stop. We have formed the habit of making political statements out there, when we know for sure that we have the power to deal with any situation. Our biggest problem with this dispensation is that Parliament never had an implementing committee. If we had an implementation committee, we would be implementing each Bill we pass here and make sure that this is being done effectively. We just pass laws and give them to Ministers who are not interested. Maybe, they were defeated in the House. How do you expect 878 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 3, 2006 them to implement? It could be their feeling that Motion may not have been good. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want Members of Parliament to understand clearly that we are not finding a way of getting Members of Parliament to have a new Departmental Committee. It is an ad hoc Committee which is meant to carry out investigations only. I would like to appeal to hon. Members to try and understand the intention, content, perception and ideas I had in mind when bringing this Motion. I have been in this Parliament for quite a number of years, but I think we need to move away from the normal way of looking at business. For example, the Government and the people of Kenya are in total agreement that we must fight corruption to the end. But the biggest question here is this: Are we just talking about it or are we fighting it? I agree that the Government has taken some action, but this action is mainly on paper. It is not that the Government does not have power. It simply lacks the will. We want to push the Government to make sure that it also agrees that this vice must come to an end. I know most countries have this problem of corruption, but we cannot wait to see the institutions which are in place to fight corruption not doing the right thing. We have other commissions. It is embarrassing when we talk to individual members of these commissions. They tell us that they have no power to prosecute. We are not asking KACC to start prosecuting outside the Attorney-General's Chambers. However, this Committee needs to understand the problem existing between the KACC and the Attorney-General. It appears the job of KACC is only to make recommendations to the Attorney-General. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have been told that an investigation officer from KACC is paid almost 1,000 times more than a prosecutor in the Attorney-General's Chambers. We want to bring these disparities to an end. We cannot have an officer of the Government doing a similar job, but is getting a salary ten times more, while another who is prosecuting is getting less. There is a lot that we need to investigate. KACC members might come to MPs and tell them privately that there is a problem with the Attorney-General's Chambers, but, officially, they have to go through the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Most civil servants in this country normally address a Minister as if they are talking to a semi-god. They would rather avoid giving suggestions because they might experience problems later. We want these officers to know that they are not there for Minister or MPs, but for this nation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think the Attorney-General's Chambers has a lot of work to do. It is high time that we created new courts. The Government is now coming up with some amendments to amend the existing KACC laws to give it power. My concern here is that these officers are the same ones recommending an additional law to give them power."
}