[Devolution Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri (left) and Frontier Alliance Party leader Ukur Yattani arrive at Moi Girls High School grounds during the launch of the party on April 29 2017. ] (Nation)With slightly over a month to the election date, government agencies are still getting involved in election matters, even after the Ombudsman warned over the same.
The Commission on Administrative Justice recently urged the IEBC to take action against any political party or candidate ‘proven to have aided or abetted the participation of political activities’.
“The participation of public officers and use of public resources in political activities politicise and create anarchy and patronage in the public service and other appointive positions, thereby undermining the Constitution,” warned the Ombudsman’s acting chairperson Regina Mwatha.
State agencies have been involved in campaigns against perceived opponents of the government, and drumming support for the Jubilee Party in the process.
Mainly, officers heading state agencies or in positions of authority who actively engage in politics have been in the spotlight, in breach of the Public Service Code of Conduct and Regulations.
This, according to observers will erode public confidence in the offices, with many individuals faulting the government for not taking action.
In April, statehouse, through Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu came to the defence of the officers, saying they were only articulating what the government had done in its five years in power.
Despite many laws barring public servants from political party campaigns, a number of them have defied them and are part of the Jubilee campaign machinery.
Section 16 of the Public Officers Ethics Act requires them not to engage in any political activity that may compromise or be seen to interfere with the neutrality of their office.
Among institutions in the spotlight are the NGOs Coordination Board and its chief executive Yusuf Fazul Mahamad, the National Police Service (NPS) and its Inspector-General Joseph Boinnet, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and its Commissioner-General John Njiraini and the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).