A 2019 corruption survey by EACC revealed that 35 per cent of Kenyans pay a bribe to get quick government services, employment, avoid police arrest and to among other reasons. This culture is deeply rooted among Kenyans that efforts to end this vice have always proved to be futile. According to a recent survey by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), bribery and corruption-linked fraud have overtaken procurement-related vice to become the fastest growing form of economic crime in corporate Kenya.
The Corruption Watchdog has now come up with a new approach to nab corruption perpetrators. This approach will mandate, all Kenyans, public servants included to be whistleblowers for any bribery. They will report to the commission within 24 hours under proposed anti-corruption legislation that is before Parliament. In the past, only State and public officers and those holding positions of responsibility within private firms were required by law to report such cases.
But the commission is seeking to amend Section 14 of the Bribery Act to allow any person to report any suspected case of bribery to EACC. Those in breach will be slapped with a lengthy jail term and multi-million shilling fine.
“Any person who is convicted of an offence under this Act, for which no penalty is expressly provided, shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both,” reads part of the Bribery Act, 2016.
This implies that every Kenyan who witnesses a case of bribery including the offering of inducements to police officers have a legal duty to report the crime to the EACC.