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| Former Premier Raila Odinga speaking at the Ant corruption conference /The Star |
Last week, I watched on live television, top leaders in our country
attack the Judiciary for supposedly undermining graft war.
All the while, Chief Justice David Maraga sat there patiently
as all huge cameras beamed lights on him.
To start with, the idea about creating a two day conference on corruption
is fairly a new one and the objective of such is difficult to decipher.
Has corruption become a sector which we need to meet and deliberate
issues about it? So I wondered...why isn't everybody at his duty doing the
right thing? If everybody is doing their job the best way, the business of fighting
corruption or any ill will cease.
As Chief Justice rightfully put it, bail is a constitutional right that every Kenyan
should enjoy. It is on this basis alone that it makes no sense at all to blame our
courts if they award bail to suspects of corruption. Denying suspects bail does not
in any way guarantee convictions. Arresting suspects on specific days also does not
guarantee convictions. Instead it undermines the overall confidence that the war
on graft so far enjoys from the public. In my view, corruption evidence once found
should be preserved by investigators even before arrests are done. Therefore
lamenting that bail injures the evidence gathering has no real footing in modern
administration of justice. Most importantly, stolen monies do leave a footprint
in the financial systems, and this should make it easy to reconstruct evidence
in case of tampering. Of course this may need forensic expertise.
It was a good thing that the head of Judiciary asserted his authority that judges are
to remain impartial and independent and only evidence will convict or acquit.
A judge that convicts with inadequate evidence may bring more peril to society
than one who acquits for similar reasons. Indeed our courts should never be lured
into singing popular tunes just for the sake of conforming.
One big question that remains avoided by all is: Why is theft happening in government?
The courts only come at the very last point to label the culprit.
There is a certain easy way in which the public coffers get raided it seems.
This is the question that every citizen has to ask.
Why is government letting public resources get plundered?
Isn't the President and his government responsible for safeguarding
our assets?
Isn't our parliament responsible for holding to account the executive?
The idea of putting anti corruption in the academic syllabus also
shows how much we are willing to skirt the real problem.
Surely, nobody steals because they do not know that it is WRONG.
Children don't need teachers to inform them that stealing is wrong.
Nearly all professions have specific ethics that those in it are taught
and expected to adhere to. If doctors, engineers, accountants,
and teachers kept their professional ethics, there will be less corruption.
We need to change tact. Can we at least make light the courts work
by guarding public resources better? and hence fewer cases.
Last point: Heavy expenditure on travel and entertainment by National
Government is not consistent with an administration that claims to be out
to fight corruption.
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