Deputy President William Ruto has said no one will be spared, not even his friends and relatives, in the fight against corruption.
He said the combat against theft of public resources will be thorough and relentless, adding that his office will lead the fight.
Ruto said the government is keen on winning the war as it seeks to elevate Kenya into an upper middle-income country.
The DP said every arm of the government has to weigh in on the assault against corruption, and ‘every citizen must play their part’.
“The fight against organised crime, mismanagement, theft and corruption is now running full steam and there are no friends, no relatives, and no political sides,” Ruto said.
He spoke in Nairobi on Wednesday during a forum with Cabinet Secretaries, Governors, and development partners.
The meeting, which sought to understand the priority areas of the Big Four agenda, saw development partners pledge to align their strategies to the same.
As part of the fight against corruption, the Deputy President noted that his office would be providing leadership on Open Government Partnership to foster transparency, accountability and promote citizen participation.
Besides anti-graft efforts, Ruto said taming wastage and abuse of public resources was necessary for Kenya to thrive.
“The transformation of Kenya is necessary, urgent and inevitable,” Ruto told the audience.
Cabinet Secretaries Henry Rotich (Treasury), James Macharia (Transport), Sicily Kariuki (Health), Monica Juma (Foreign Affairs), Mwangi Kiunjuri (Agriculture), and Eugene Wamalwa (Devolution) were present.
Top envoys in the meeting were the Head of the EU Delegation in Kenya Stefano-Antonio Dejak, US envoy Robert Godec, Swedish Ambassador Anna Jardfelt, UN Resident Co-ordinator and United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative Siddharth Chatterjee, UNDP Country Director Amanda Serumaga, Food and Agricultural Organisation Representative in Kenya Gabriel Rugalema, among others.
The Deputy President said several reforms were ongoing to rebuild the country economically, citing the creation of a conducive business environment, infrastructure expansion and investment in quality and accessible social services.
