The government has been asked to initiate national dialogue to find consensus on an all-inclusive multi-pronged strategy to deal with corruption that is stifling the nation.
Speaking in Eldoret on Tuesday during the national dialogue conference organised by the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), Cyprian Nyamwamu, a Pan African Governance, Gender and Leadership consultant said President Uhuru Kenyatta’s fight against corruption will succeed if the war is depoliticized and a strategy put in place.
He pointed out that it is a challenge to fight corruption when many Kenyans do not agree on what corruption entails.
Nyamwamu said the war against corruption cannot succeed through rallies and political utterances alone without involving all stakeholders.
He challenged religious leaders to initiate dialogue on all matters national which can break the country apart.
The governance activist said religious leaders should be in the forefront in reaching out to the people as a way of
initiating national dialogue and consensus on how the vice can be tackled effectively.
Nyamwamu said the war on corruption must be as inclusive as possible and has to bring on board as much expertise, gender and age balance.
He said the dialogue recommendations and agreements should come up with a document that will guide Kenyans after agreeing on how to solve their enormous problems in areas of politics, social services, the economy, and how they can be reformed.
“Corruption cannot be fought through legal strategy and arrests only but should also involve religious, cultural, ethnic community council of elders.”
Nyamwamu said the graft fight has to be extended to the lower levels of leadership in institutions that offer key services where citizens are hurting a lot because of corruption.
He said all county governments must be required to entrench public participation in identification of community needs and people working in government, and those doing business with government must be asked to declare their interest.
Nyamwamu emphasised the need for the National Assembly to come up with a law that will force all government workers to declare conflict of interest when doing business with government.
Those who have stolen public resources should be given an amnesty period to return the money and properties belonging to the government, he added.
By Kiptanui Cherono
