The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) CEO Twalib Mbarak has revealed that political leaders will use the predicted El Nino rains to loot public funds.
Appearing on JK Live on Wednesday, September 27, Mbarak stated that EACC has received reports that officials at the county and national government are planning to seize the opportunity and engage in corruption.
“There is El Nino coming in and we have got intelligence, and you will be shocked that some counties and some institutions within the national government have now seen an opportunity to eat,” said Mbarak.
Further, the CEO mentioned that corruption scandals will arise since individuals are suggesting mitigation plans to counter El Nino with plans to loot.
“People are coming up with mitigation plans which sound very good very you are reading but some of these counties and government institutions we have information that people have seen an opportunity coming to eat,” he said.
“So don’t be shocked that soon you may see scandals coming in at the expense of the people and under the cover that we are putting a mechanism on how to mitigate El Nino,” he added.
EACC scorecard
At the same time, Mbaraka defended the performance of EACC arguing that it has contributed positively to the fight against corruption in government.
Mbarak said EACC has made high profile arrests including nine governors who have been charged with corruption.
“I don’t think a governor is a small person in this country. If you look at the hierarchy of the political system in this country, after the President and the Deputy President, I think it is a governor. They are more powerful even more than the Cabinet Secretaries in terms of resources,” he said.
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Moreover, Mbarak revealed that the commission is investigating 21 current and former governors.
In addition, he said EACC has recovered several assets obtained through corruption and disrupted several people planning to engage in graft.
“We have done recoveries of a lot of public land amounting to about Ksh26 billion and disrupted scandals that were in being planned of roughly Ksh.40 billion,” said Mbarak.
Also, Mbaraka mentioned that the commission has done system reviews to several organizations.
“If you look at all these it is about Ksh. 100 billion and we get an annual budget of Ksh.3.6 billion so even if you are not an economist, I think the return on investment tells you it is worth having EACC as an anti-corruption,” he explained.
Additionally, he blamed the citizens for promoting a bad political culture by electing corrupt individuals into office.
“We should not make noise and blame EACC, we are the cause of the problem. We are the ones who brought in this group and then we are making noise that the country is corrupt,” he said.
Further, he said EACC is improving daily in curbing ever since the county government was introduced in 2013.
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Met Department El Nino Warning
The Kenya Meteorological Department had warned that the country is likely to experience El Nino rains from October.
In a statement on Wednesday, August 30, the weatherman said there is a 99 per cent probability of the extremely high rainfall that is expected to last till January 2024.
Furthermore, the Met Department detailed areas that will be experience the high rainfall, in Lake Victoria Basin region, Kisii, Elgeyo Marakwet, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Vihiga, Laikipia, Nakuru and Narok counties.
Additionally, Rift Valley region areas like Gilgil, Narok town, and Suswa, are expected to experience flooding, while in the highlands east of the Rift Valley will experience season’s long-term average.
Further, the department detailed that Wajir and Mandera counties will get the highest rainfall.
The department said that there will be above occasional the long-term average for the season in Nairobi, and the North-Western counties of Turkana, Marsabit and Samburu.
