{UAH} Edmund/Pojim/WBK: GAITHO: Talk on graft impressive, but action on criminals would be - Opinion | Daily Nation
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GAITHO: Talk on graft impressive, but action on criminals would be - Opinion
The tough talk against corruption at the Jamhuri Day celebrations was just the sort of thing that should make one believe there is hope yet in the Jubilee government.
Both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto warned that the days were numbered for those using their positions to unjustly enrich themselves from the public coffers.
Those tough warnings are worth supporting and applauding.
It is only when the President and his deputy recognise that corruption is a virulent cancer that they will embark on the tough action required to reclaim Kenya.
We all hold a potent weapon in our hands — the voting card, through which we can send packing a government that is the mafia and put in place one that will not relent in this holy war.
If UhuRuto is the duo that can slay the dragon, so be it.
Unfortunately, the duo will not yet win my endorsement, not until they prove that their bite against corruption is stronger than their bark.
We have heard plenty of anti-corruption rhetoric from on high, but seen very little to disprove the increasingly common perception that it is all hot air.
The tough talk rings hollow where there has been absolutely no progress in the fight against corruption other than endless investigations that lead nowhere.
The tough talk rings hollow where those making all the right noises against corruption still surround themselves with and are seen to protect avaricious leeches who seem to have licence to suck this country dry.
ANTI-GRAFT BODIES NEUTERED
The tough talk rings hollow when those charged with providing leadership and direction have moved to systematically neuter all the agencies mandated to fight the vice and reduced them to their political lapdogs.
The tough talk sounds hollow when, instead of taking the war to the corrupt in their midst, the top leadership is implicitly endorsing madcap policies that threaten to jail those who strive to expose graft.
When the President in his Jamhuri Day address warned that the sword cuts both ways, that those making accusations must also be held accountable, he was lending his support to the foolish threat from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to arrest opposition leader Raila Odinga.
The largely toothless and leaderless anti-graft body was threatening to arrest Mr Odinga if he defied summonses to appear and provide any information he has on the alleged theft of Eurobond proceeds.
Yes, the agency does have power to summon and arrest individuals in the course of investigations, but it is way off the mark when it appears to be more interested in pursuing whistle-blowers than suspects.
Maybe all these claims from Mr Odinga that a massive Sh140 billion has been stolen from the Eurobond proceeds are errant nonsense.
That he has become evasive when challenged to prove his claims is quite telling, even if Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, Senate and National Assembly Majority whips Kithure Kindiki and Aden Duale, and all the Jubilee coalition hired guns detailed to respond to the allegations have hardly been convincing either.
It would also be true that Mr Odinga is intent on milking maximum political mileage from the alleged theft.
None of these are capital offences. Lies, misinformation, and political propaganda lie not in the realm of serious crimes outlined in the Penal Code, but in a more grey area of our defective leadership culture.
While he may have enjoyed the Jubilee cheering squads applauding him for sounding tough against Mr Odinga, the EACC chief executive Halakhe Waqo was not just on shaky legal ground, but confirming that he is no more than a pliable hatchet man for the Executive.
That he on Monday backed away from his hollow threats does not change the bad picture he projected of himself.
He came out just as ridiculous as the Deputy President accusing Mr Odinga of economic sabotage.
The saboteurs and traitors who ought to be arrested are not those sounding the alarm, but those looting public wealth and leaving in their wake Kenyans afflicted by poverty, hunger, desperation, and hopelessness.
If those in leadership want to project a tough image, it must not be by threatening all critical voices in the media, civil society, and political opposition.
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