Courts the weakest link in anti-graft war

The renewed campaign to fight corruption increasingly appears to be losing steam. After a series of high-profile arrests and charging in court of top government officials implicated in corruption, which elicited huge public support, the fight seems to be stalling at the most crucial stage; prosecution.

When the operation was renewed last year and spearheaded by Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji and head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation George Kinoti, hordes of high-ranking individuals in government were arrested and arraigned in court. For the first time, the public believed that the government was determined to slay the corruption dragon.

However, more than a year later, progress has not been as fast as expected. First, the Judiciary has been slow in dispensing of matters, indicating a weak link in the crusade. Chief Justice David Maraga is on record issuing a decree to the courts to speed up adjudication of corruption cases. He committed to set up designated courts to handle the matters to expedite administration of justice. The idea was to conclude the cases quickly and punish those who have stolen from the public.

However, this has not come to pass. Most of the cases are stuck in the courts. Delays in handling the issues pose a serious threat to the war. Perpetrators get emboldened with the knowledge that they are safe from conviction. Authorities who conduct investigations and coordinate the arrests get demoralised. On their part, stakeholders get disillusioned and in the interim, corruption continues to gather pace.

Second, questions have risen about the quality of evidence used to charge the individuals. Some evidence presented before the court cannot sustain prosecution. Which brings to the fore another unfortunate scenario, namely collusion between investigators, prosecutors and judicial officers to kill some cases. Weak evidence is presented deliberately to ensure the charges flop. Apparently, there is an unholy alliance between the suspects, investigators, prosecutors and some judicial officials, which perverts the course of justice.

We ask Mr Maraga to conduct an audit of the pending cases and give directions to conclude them. Also, he should give the public an update of the progress on each of the cases. Further, the DCI and DPP should not only intensify the drive to rein in the corrupt, but also conduct thorough investigations and prepare incontrovertible evidence to secure convictions. The public wants quick conclusion of all the pending graft cases. Culprits must be punished. The momentum must be sustained. But that is only possible through conclusive prosecution of all graft suspects.