EACC seeks funding to adequately vet poll aspirants
Legal loopholes may see candidates for elective posts with tainted past and unworthy to assume any public office sail through to the ballot undeterred with the August General Election fast approaching.
This is after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) yesterday told the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) of the National Assembly they don’t have enough funds for the integrity verification.
“We are in a mess being a period when we are usually very busy. We are to do integrity verification for clearance of candidates but have no sufficient funds for that,” EACC chief executive Twalib Mbarak said.
He revealed that the anti-graft agency has Sh154 million in its bank accounts, adding that the situation has hampered EACC operations a great deal.
EACC asked the committee to allocate it additional funds to enable it widen its net and closely monitor leaders at both levels of government against misuse of resources especially the transition period.
Mbarak said the agency requires Sh360 million for the remainder of the year.
The EACC was not allocated any additional funds to the Sh3.3 billion provided in the current financial year.
However, the Members of Parliament questioned what would be the worst outcomes if the commission did not get the funds and if pre-election integrity verification was not conducted.
They also questioned the place of the EACC in the vetting seeking funding and whether it was in line with the law.
“What could happen therefore if you don’t get money? Would that mean those seeking clearance will not get it or what?” Posed Keiyo South MP Daniel Rono.
According to Mbarak, they will end up diluting the type of report they will give to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) or the public.
“…of course, there is no watertight vetting but you must have a threshold that is acceptable…you don’t vet somebody you say this person is good then after a while the public is making noise, we must tell IEBC that these are the red flags,” said Mbarak.
On the agency’s mandate to vet aspirants, Mbarak disagreed saying verification forms are filled from EACC. “If you don’t fill it, you may not vie for your parliamentary seat.”
However, MP TJ Kajwang maintained, “It is because when they come, they are vulnerable. The fact that nobody has taken you up, doesn’t mean it is ok. It doesn’t mean that that is the law.”
He asked the EACC to create a forum reflecting on the law saying this will likely find that it extended its mandate beyond the provisions of the Leadership and Integrity Act.
But Twalib said, “I have not seen anyone vying who has not filled the integrity forms much as there are a lot of conflicting laws and acts of Parliament.”
“It takes less than a minute to know someone has a fake certificate…less than a minute. But when you try to arrest the MP over the charge, they finish their term when the case is still in court. The fellow goes for a second term, appeals and ends up being pensionable,” Twalib said.
