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{
    "id": 29172,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/29172/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 886,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kimunya",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Transport",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Bill. I will start by saying that the fight against corruption in this country has been a total disappointment. This Bill gives us an opportunity to restart and clean up the process of fighting corruption in this country. If you look at all the things we are doing in pretending to fight corruption, you will see that the process itself is inherently corrupt, starting with the people we have. They got corrupted on the first day they were appointed. The argument in 2003 was that you need to pay the people who are fighting corruption exorbitantly high so that they do not fall into the temptation of corruption, basically admitting that you are hiring people who are vulnerable and susceptible to corruption. Then, you expect them to fight corruption. All they are doing is marking time, earn huge salaries, knowing that, as long as they do not ruffle any feathers, they would continue for five years and then retire with good packages. That exactly tells you why nothing much has been happening. If you were in an organization, tell me where you would pay the watchman more than the manager with the pretension that the watchman will prevent the manager from stealing? When we started by saying we needed a Director of Kenya Anti-corruption Commission (KACC) and we actually paid him more than the Chief Executive of this country so that he can pretend to be fighting corruption, that is where we failed in this fight. This Bill should now restart the process Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let us retrace our steps. Where did we go wrong in the fight against corruption? If we trust that we are hiring judges to pass judgment on whether one is corrupt or not, why would we be paying that judge one-third or one-fifth of what we are paying the person pretending to be fighting corruption? All he does is going for harambees and being a guest of honor in various fora, talking a lot and actually doing nothing! I can tell you that, if we continue as we are, nothing will be achieved by Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission. The issue of vetting has been talked about. I believe that this is an opportunity - like we are doing with all these other institutions - let us even vet the people who are working there, from the drivers to everyone else. Why should we pay a driver at the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission a salary that is higher than the driver at the Ministry? You pay him or her more than your own driver yet, both of them just drive. What is so special about him because the driver at the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission is paid ten times the salary of the ordinary driver? This is corruption of the highest order. It is obtaining money by false pretences; by pretending that they are special; that they are doing a job; and all they are doing is actually flashing around their lifestyles. We admit that the fight against corruption was lost because of the inherent failures in the other systems. Kenyans took a decision to restart their nation afresh. With the new Constitution, we said we need a Chief Justice afresh; a Deputy Chief Justice afresh, to vet all the judges, to vet all the staff. Let us get new Members in Parliament in another five years time. Let us create all the institutions that have failed. So, why do we then need these parallel bodies, except on matters of ethics where we believe that Kenyans need a re- orientation on the ethical standings, so that they can actually come out better? It will start complete with the leaders we elect. We have just finished with the Political Parties Bill which will bring discipline to the political parties. By the time we finish all these laws that we are bringing within this week, and I am not anticipating debate, Kenyans will see that we are moving into a new Kenya. We do not need some of these pretenders to fight corruption except for purposes of enforcing ethical behavior among the Kenyan people. A lot has been said here about our grand hope; that we were going to capture the grand corruption of the past. We knew about the billions that were lost. We even engaged the services of people like Kroll Associates and they told us that we lost so many billions. Kenyans were excited that all that money will come back. But what happened? In 2003, we came here; we passed the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and repealed the Prevention of Corruption Act. So, anything that was done before 2003 became: “You cannot use this new law retrospectively.” So, whatever Acts we have and whatever we are doing can only target what has happened in the recent past. But anything that happened in the past is as good as dead. I hope that because civil proceedings can still be brought, this new body that we are creating will help us retrace some of that money."
}