Mr. President, it is time to take the bull by its horns

It is so disheartening when the CEO of the nation bemoans the failure of his government to tame a vice. President Kenyatta sounds like a broken record when he tells Kenyans that corruption has been a malady which successive regimes have failed to deal with.

It is not enough that he has fired a few individuals and it does not help matters when the president hogs airtime to castigate the Opposition when he too admits albeit subtly that his government is finding it hard to vanquish the dragon of corruption.

Fire or prosecute

It is true that it has taken the Opposition’s effort led by the Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to either fire or prosecute a few cases much to the chagrin of the national government’s operatives.

It does not help when the names of the high and mighty within the government feature in the scandals because that makes the claim by the president that they are doing good sound so hollow.

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The institutions charged with dealing with corruption have been accused of tolerating and even abetting the same.

The institutions have actually resorted to buck-passing while the Kenyan economy continues to get a beating as the ordinary man struggles to make ends meet.

Just like in the developed world, the president has to take responsibility for the failures of his regime; it does not work for him to blame the Opposition for pointing out the grey areas where Wanjiku is not getting a satisfactory explanation concerning spending of public funds.

The Eurobond, for instance, has been a questionable expenditure and that has to be fodder for the Opposition as The Treasury seems unable to explain or rather keeps stumbling incoherently, leaving a big chunk of the citizenry with many questions regarding the resolve by Jubilee in the fight against corruption.

I do not hold brief for any political players but the work of the civil society and of course the Opposition is to always provide direction in cases where the government of the day is deemed to be failing.

Bad governance entails a myriad of issues: insecurity, bad foreign policies, corruption and violation of human rights to name just a few.

We pray that the Opposition and the civil society continue to point out these issues with the objective of correcting them and improving the lives of Kenyans - that should never be taken away from them.

Mr. President, it is time to take the bull by its horns.

{Titus Pala, Kisumu}

Corruption is the biggest threat to nationhood, development, security and national cohesion. Graft poses a threat beyond measure to our existence.

We even lose our humanity due to graft. Yet with all these scaring descriptions and devastating effects of corruption, it is the not only the largest but also the fastest growing vice in Kenya.

Countries which have waged a vicious war against the vice are miles ahead of us in development.

The difference between them and us is the stern action they take against graft. In Kenya, the investigating agencies do everything to sanitize the merchants of mega graft.

While developed countries abhor graft, here we celebrate it. It is normal to see a person under active investigation being appointed to an influential position in the public service. How can you defeat corruption when the high priests of graft are presiding over public affairs?

Could our tragedy be the narrow understanding of the meaning of corruption?

Any form of abuse of office for personal gain constitutes corruption. On this note, perpetuating ethnic bias is a form of corruption.

The national Integration and Cohesion Commission should work together with Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to eliminate graft.

To defeat the vice, we must attack where it is prevalent. The public service is the hot bed of graft.

State corporations are major conduits of fleecing public funds.

EACC must focus its efforts of public firms. It is notable that huge resources allocated to these institutions is being plundered with impunity.

President Kenyatta should make the fight against graft the main performance contract target for all boards and councils of public institutions.

Each of the organs should guarantee prudent utilization of public resources.

Any misappropriation of public funds must result in immediate suspension and prosecution of the culprits or the boards be held responsible. Otherwise, graft will continue eating our nation.

{Benard Amaya, Via Email}