President Uhuru Kenyatta has said state officials who have failed to deliver should resign and allow competent Kenyans take over their offices.
Kenyatta said officials in positions like managing directors of parastatals should not misuse offices then blame their junior officers.
He said senior officers of institutions involved in corruption will be dealt with more ruthlessly than their juniors.
“There is no small thief. If you cannot work, then resign. We will no longer be blaming junior officers and let their seniors go scot-free,” Kenyatta said.
The president said there are many learned and qualified Kenyans who can work and protect Kenyan’s resources and property.
Kenyatta spoke during the destruction of illicit goods worth Sh1.5 billion at the East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) in Athi River, Machakos County on Friday.
They included counterfeit, contraband, substandard, expired, unlicensed and illegally imported products.
The destroyed items included motor vehicles, cigarettes for exports, blood collection tubes, expired pharmaceuticals, trust condoms, expired Barclays Visa cards, toothpaste and brushes, beer and wine, spaghetti for exports, electrical cables, assorted extension cables and tomato sauce.
Others were sugar, rice, cotton bands, assorted diapers, construction tiles, energy saving bulbs, sandalwood, paints, and roofing iron sheets.
Kenyatta said as a government, they are not happy to see the property of this magnitude being destroyed.
He said all the illicit products will be seized and destroyed.
Kenyatta said his government will fight corruption without sparing anyone whether his siblings or friends.
“This must come to an end. I don’t hate anybody, Kenyans told me that we must eliminate corruption,” Kenyatta said.
The president said he reads about those nabbed in connection with corruption cases on newspapers just the way other Kenyans do.
He said those accused of corrupt dealings should defend themselves in court to prove their innocence.
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