Lobby groups ask IEBC, EACC to raise integrity bar in 2022 election

By Kevin Cheruiyot

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), Transparency International- Kenya, and Amnesty International- Kenya have jointly called upon IEBC and EACC to use the 2022 general elections to raise the integrity bar and root corrupt leaders.

In a statement on Thursday, which coincided with the International AntiCorruptio Day, the lobby groups said the country continues to sink lower in the corruption index.

“Unfortunately, corruption has also increased significantly in the last ten years. The war on corruption has been ethnicised and politicised, allowing regional leaders to divert the quest for accountability,” part of the statement reads.

They said that some of the political leaders mentioned adversely in mega corruption scandals over the years are easily sanitised through elections to become elected representatives of the people.

“We are deeply worried that we are creating a culture of sending a thief to catch a thief. This has created multiple mega corruption cartels across the two levels of government and all departments”

“If we are to recover from Covid-19 and the malignancy of corruption that has caused sharp inequalities and poverty, the 2022 election must be honest.”

They said that Chapter Six of the Constitution has been set aside since the 2013 election, which has been responsible for the undermining of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

“Ten years into the new constitutional dispensation, it’s imperative that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ensures full implementation of the leadership and integrity aspiration of the Constitution in breadth and depth.”

They want aspirants who have been implicated in the Auditor-General’s reports pending investigation to be barred so that political power is not used to hamper independent and effective investigations.

“Bar from elections candidates with pending criminal proceedings, which would result in a minimum jail term of more than six months. Again, to ensure that access to justice is not hampered and in case of a conviction, Kenyans are not subjected to arduous by-elections.”

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