25:06:2021: The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has taken its Integrity Compliance Capacity building programme to Baringo County, which was placed among the top 10 regions with a high prevalence of bribery according to EACC’s National Corruption Survey of 2018.

The Commission’s South Rift regional head, Mr Ignatius Wekesa, who launched the three-day programme at the Kenya School of Government Baringo Campus, lamented that public officers “who are custodians of public resources and who are supposed to deliver quality services to the citizens, have themselves betrayed the people whom they should serve”.

“In almost all corrupt deals or negotiations,” he said, “public and state officers have been the main suspects in plundering public resources meant for the good of the public.’’

From the reports received by EACC, he said, the malpactrices in county governments ranged from conflict of interest; payments for works not done; theft in collection of revenue; payments to ghost workers and for ghost projects; abuse of office whereby senior officers demanded monetary benefits from junior officers; failure to follow  aid -down guidelines in procurement; payment for substandard works; irregular recruitment; suspect financial management practices; fraudulent acquisition of public property;, nepotism, and unethical conduct, among others.

The regional head warned that the Commission was committed to dealing with rogue public officers engaged in corruption and unethical practices.

He thanked the county government for setting aside time to participate in the workshop despite the challenges paused by the Covid-19 pandemic that had scaled down operations in both the public and private sectors; and welcomed their participation as an indication that the county was ready to partner with the Commission to fight  corruption and unethical conduct.

Mr. Wekesa, who represented the Commission’s CEO at the workshop, highlighted corruption and unethical conduct as the main obstacles to the realization of good governance, sustainable development and Vision 2030. This, he said, was continually delaying the realization of the government’s Big 4 Agenda.

He urged the public officers to remain loyal and committed to public service,  “as there is a public outcry on the levels of corruption in the country. “

County Governor Stanely Kiptis thanked EACC for honouring the invitation to undertake the programme in his region, calling on all participants to learn and commit to integrity in their daily undertakings.

And he reminded them: “As public officers, we are custodians of public resources; we have a moral obligation to uphold integrity in service delivery.”

The Commission has put in place a number of measures to tackle corruption and unethical conduct in public institutions. They are designed to:

• Implement programmes on graft prevention so as to equip public institutions with the capacity to detect and prevent corrupt practices.

• Undertake education, training, sensitization and public awareness;

• Carry out investigations into violations of LIA, ACECA, PFM Act, PPAD Act, Bribery Act, among others;

• Carry out surveys on corruption and ethics in public institutions to understand the nature, magnitude and forms of corruption so as to develop informed strategies;

• Monitor the conduct of all state and public officers to ensure that they comply with Chapter Six of the Constitution

• Monitor the activities of public institutions such as recruitment, procurement and financial management to ensure that the law is compiled with;

• Implement integrity programmes in schools so as to mainstream positive values among the youth with a view to creating a generation that upholds ethics and integrity.

The workshop, which targets oversight boards and senior officers in Baringo County, ended on June 25.