Former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has stated that he believes President Uhuru Kenyatta is not corrupt. He defended the president over the National Youth Service (NYS) scam involving KSh 10 billion and said Uhuru's sacking of corrupt public officers would not be enough to reduce corruption unless the suspects were prosecuted.
In an interview on Thursday, May 24, Khalwale who is also the FORD Kenya party leader blamed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for increased graft in the country.
"I am tempted to share with Kenyans that Uhuru Kenyatta is not corrupt. It will not be enough for Uhuru to sack cabinet secretaries. There needs a follow up to ensure all who played a part in perpetrating graft are convicted for corruption to be won," he said.
He went further to insinuate that the latest KSh 1.9 billion scandal involving the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) was a well-organized plan to divert the government's attention from the mega NYS scandal.
"This could be a deliberate effort by interested parties who know the government is under focus for the loss of billions in the NYS saga. They want the attention to shift from NYS to the maize scandal where lesser money was involved," he said.
Khalwale also observed institutions tasked with fighting graft must rise to the occasion and act without fear or favor to curb the nightmare which has overtaken the country's economic growth.
The former Kakamega Senator says Uhuru has a goodwill of fighting corruption and blamed anti-graft bodies for failing in their work. Besides blaming anti-graft agencies for doing too little to tame the vice, Khalwale explained the government and the public needed to jointly work together in ensuring corruption was not treated as a norm in the country.
"The institutions tasked with battling graft will also not work until the rampant impunity is not part of our value system," he added.
Under Uhuru’s regime, numerous scandals involving over KSh 200 billion have been reported. Major cases include the KSh 791 million scam at NYS in 2015, KSh 5 billion disappearances from the health ministry in 2016, and the Eurobond saga involving KSh 215 billion in 2016.