President William Ruto has revealed that his administration will be proposing three major amendments to various laws to fight corruption in government.
Speaking during the handover of recovered assets by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) at State House on Wednesday, September 11, the Head of State revealed that the proposed amendments would include timelines for the prosecution of graft cases.
As detailed by Ruto, the first amendment of the Evidence Act and the Criminal Procedure Code will seek to have graft cases investigated and concluded within six months.
On the other hand, the government will propose amendments to the Witness Protection Act to enhance the protection of whistleblowers.
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Equally, Ruto indicated that the government would be making amendments to laws that deal with procurement in the public sector.
"We also plan to propose amendments to the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Procurement and Disposal Act. The goal is to overhaul the institutional and operational framework of public procurement, which has been identified as a key area for corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of office in the public sector,"
"These amendments aim to deploy digital infrastructure to create an open, transparent public procurement platform, allowing real-time, end-to-end public visibility of the entire process, from advertisement to contract award.
Additionally, the President called on Members of Parliament to expedite the passage of the Conflict of Interest Bill which seeks to safeguard the use of public resources.
In the last five years, EACC has recovered close to Ksh28 billion that had been embezzled by state officers. The Commission is also seeking to recover an additional Ksh41 billion from various individuals.
These assets also include public land that has been grabbed in recent years.
