EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Corruption is a widespread, shared concern across the world. A 2011 BBC survey, covering 23 countries, found that corruption was the topic most frequently discussed by the public, ahead of poverty, unemployment, and rising costs. 25% of those surveyed confirmed having recently discussed corruption and ranked it the most serious problem facing their society. Corruption is often the leading edge when people speak of ethics and politics.
Despite high levels of awareness of corruption and its negative effects on society, the levels of corruption are perceived to be high. (Anticorruption policy 2020). According to the EACC in a survey conducted in 2016, 79.3% of the respondents indicated the level of corruption as high, 63.4% stated that corruption is increasing in the country and 87% felt that corruption is widespread in society20. Another study by EACC in 2015 revealed the existence of a gap between the level of awareness and action against the vice, as only 5.3% of those who witnessed cases of corruption reported to the authorities. Therefore, there is a need to widen, deepen and intensify public education, training, and awareness creation to engage behavior and attitude change and cultivate positive values in society that are intolerant to corruption.
Historically, there are numerous policies, regulations and laws relating to the management procurement and finance at the National level, and the same structures have been extended to the Counties with the introduction of devolution. However, national approaches that look professionally and systematically at changing both public management systems and cultures that permit corruption are quite recent.
On 5th November 2021, the Supreme court in Nairobi delivered a landmark ruling marking a major win for the ODPP and the public generally, which allowed the extradition to Jersey Island of two prominent Kenyans, Mr. Okemo a former Minister of Energy and Finance between 1999 and 2001 and Samuel Kimunchu Gichuru a former managing director of Kenya Power and Lighting company. Both were accused of abusing their office and engaging in corruption, money laundering during the terms of office.
We note that meaningful efforts to fight poverty, assure security, prosperity and equity depend on public integrity. Efficient use of resources is vital for delivering services like education and health. The damage to pension programs, social protection, quality education, and decent health care from corrupt systems goes far beyond the direct damage inflicted because it erodes the trust and rob, especially the youth and the vulnerable of their rightful futures. For this reason, the project sought to be very inclusive and build a community of change agents.
The project engaged with various stakeholders such as Bishops, Clergy, youth leaders, women leaders, anti-corruption institutions, and civil society organizations with the goal of raising the social cost of corruption and ensuring they provide reliable and effective oversight on the use of public resources at the County levels.
Through this project, Hatua believes it is feasible and desirable to ensure that anti-corruption measures are communicated in understandable terms and that accountability challenges are intelligently addressed.
Secondly, the project is based on partnerships and enhanced by clear communication and this can be achieved by holding the political leadership accountable to these standards.
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