The head of EACC, the anti-corruption agency, Mr Twalib Mbarak, was on television recently blaming the voters for the level of corruption among politicians. He thinks the voters were at fault for voting in thieves. I beg to disagree with him.
Voting is not in itself a crime; it is our civil right. Voting in a thief is not a crime either—although I think it now ought to be. What is a crime is stealing public funds, for which the thieves must be severely punished. This is crucial to protect the victims, who, in this case, are voters and taxpayers, from being financially abused. Theft of public funds, especially by politicians, is abuse of power, punishable by law.
The independent agencies established to deal with economic crimes or corruption, have let Kenyans down and must take the blame. Victim-blaming is apportioning blame on the wrong people. EACC, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Judiciary have failed to tame corruption despite having been given teeth to bite. There are enough laws in our Constitution at their disposal to deal with economic crimes across the board.
Crime
Presuming that it is only politicians involved…
