EACC to investigate Jenifer Gitiri for holding multiple public office jobs

 

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) will from next week start an investigation on a case where a parastatal boss is accused of holding multiple public office jobs.

EACC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Twalib Mbarak has confirmed they have summoned CEO of Council of Legal Education Jenifer Gitiri to appear before the commission and shed light about the accusations.

At the beginning of this week, a Nakuru based surgeon filed a case before High court accusing Gitiri of holding eight public jobs which were against the law governing public appointments and as abuse of administrative power.

Apart from serving as CEO of the Council of Legal Education, Gitiri is accused of serving on boards of Kenya Law Reporting, Kenya Revenue Authority, Witness Protection Agency and as deputy director for Assets Recovery Authority.

She is also accused of serving as corporate secretary at the Assets Recovery Authority and also acts as a representative of the office of attorney general.

Mbarak speaking in Murang’a Friday promised the EACC will get the facts about the matter and give appropriate directions after the truth is known.

“We just got the matter from the press and the accused officer has been summoned to appear before the commission and explain how she got the positions.

There are guidelines governing employment of state and public officers and we want to find out if she indeed holds the positions, how it happens and whether it’s in line with the governing regulations,” said Mbarak during a public lecture on corruption presided by former head of public service, Ambassador Francis Muthaura.

He continued “we don’t say the parastatal chief is guilty as claimed but as EACC we will do our work and give a verdict after getting the facts.”

“We assure the members of the public that EACC will deal with the matter and other issues brought before us on corruption as we strive to end corruption menace in this nation,” added Mbarak.

Muthaura in his public lecture called upon government and public institutions to adopt various reforms aimed to curtail runaway corruption.

He noted about 90 percent of corruption cases in the government agencies are perpetuated in the procurement departments calling for strict adherence of procurement procedures.

The former head of public service further opined there is need to overhaul the current system on declaration of wealth by public officers saying the system is largely ineffective due to its restriction in access of information even to law enforcers.

“In keeping with the standards of public accountability, there is a need for all government officers to publicly declare their wealth which should be effectively analyzed and action taken against those found with unexplained wealth.

“This is possible by having an efficient wealth declaration system which can be easily accessed by the authorities concerned,” explained Muthaura.

He further asked the government to consider enhancing budgetary allocation to institutions charged with the responsibility of fighting corruption.

“Institutions entrusted with the responsibility of fighting corruption like office of the public prosecution, judiciary, EACC among other Key agencies need to have enhanced budgetary allocation to enable them effectively fight this menace,” he noted.

Muthaura added, “fight against corruption has progressed but at a slow pace. I suggest whistle blowers on cases touching corruption need to be rewarded.”

BY KNA