President William Ruto has established a multi-agency team dedicated to combating corruption across all levels of government.
In a statement released Tuesday, August 19, the President signed a proclamation creating the Multi-Agency Team on War Against Corruption (MAT). The MAT will coordinate efforts among various state agencies to tackle corruption, economic crimes, and related offenses.
The Executive Office of the President will chair the multi-agency team, while the Office of the Attorney General will head the secretariat.
Other government agencies forming the MAT include the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
More members are the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).
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The multi-agency team has been tasked with several key objectives which include enhancing inter-agency coordination and collaboration among participating organizations, while engaging other relevant government agencies and private sector entities to maximize the effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts.
The MAT will also focus on identifying resource needs for each participating agency and facilitating collaborative support systems.
Additionally, the team is mandated to develop effective communication strategies that raise public awareness about corruption and mobilize citizen participation in the fight against graft.
“The MAT shall, to the greatest extent possible, foster cooperation, coordination, and collaboration to enhance effectiveness in the fight against corruption. For this purpose, the team shall be funded from the budgetary allocations of its member entities and other agencies,” the statement read.
This establishment comes just one day after President Ruto made explosive allegations against Members of Parliament during a joint parliamentary meeting.
On Monday, August 18, during a gathering that brought together Kenya Kwanza Alliance and Orange Democratic Movement lawmakers, the President accused some parliamentarians of accepting bribes to influence legislation.
The Head of State specifically claimed that certain MPs had received Sh10 million in bribes to facilitate the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering Bill.
“There are people who are destroying the credibility of parliament. They are collecting money in the name of Parliament. And most of the time, that money never gets to parliament; it gets to a few people,” said Ruto. “We are not going to shame them. We are going to arrest them. Whoever is giving and whoever is being given, we will sort them out.”
