CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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Kenya |
CORRUPTION
Kenya’s Public Service Integrity Programme
For a long time in Kenya, corruption and in this case, official corruption has been blamed for the many economic ills besetting the country. In fact, many investors have cited official corruption as a major hindrance that has made the cost of doing business in the country to be prohibitive. This scenario has caused investors to relocate their business concerns to other countries possessing a conducive business environment.
In recent times, the Kenyan Government has initiated various policies and strategies for tackling official corruption. Amongst them, is the introduction of the Public Service Integrity Programme (PSIP).
To assist in tackling this enormous undertaking, the country’s Directorate of Personnel Management (DPM) and the Anti-Corruption Police Unit (ACPU) in March 2002, jointly published a source book for corruption prevention in the public sector. In it, the government categorically states that it will embark on rationalizing its functions aimed at creating a transparent and accountable public service.
The resource book is expected to act as an essential guide to all Ministries, Departments and Organizations in the identification of opportunities that give rise to corruption, and to suggests ways of sealing loopholes in order to achieve attitudes of integrity and correct behaviour among public servants.
PSIP
From this, the government has now worked out a programme known as the Public Service Integrity Programme (PSIP), which aims at creating a public service with zero tolerance for corruption. This calls for all public officials to re-examine their ways of working, keeping in mind the laws of the land and the Civil Service Code of Regulations which all public servants are supposed to be familiar with.
To achieve this, the DPM has embarked on a series of training sessions for Integrity Assurance Officers (IAO)s in Government Ministries, Departments, Parastatals and Local Authorities. These will eventually act as agents for change in the fight against corruption. After training, these officers are expected to train other staff in their respective organizations.
The organizations will then appoint Corruption Prevention Committees directly under the Chief Executive of the respective organizations, which will be responsible for fighting and preventing corruption within the respective organizations. Getting the right calibre of officers means identifying and selecting suitable senior officers to be trained in performing the functions of Integrity Officers. These officers are then expected to give technical support to prevent corruption starting within their own organizations.
Using these trained officers, organization are expected to effectively carry out: Risk assessment; develop, refine and implement codes of conduct; revise and improve organizational culture and codes of ethical behaviour; disseminate anti-corruption and integrity messages; develop and implement corruption prevention plans; incorporate the best practices in current training programmes for financial and human resource management; monitor and evaluate all these undertakings.
The recently elected National Alliance of Rainbow Coalition (NARC) has as one of its major election platforms, the fight against corruption. And its leader, newly-elected President Mwai Kibaki used fighting corruption as a major campaign issue. In his inaugural speech, President Kibaki reiterated his call for fighting corruption and challenged his countrymen to join in the fight.
Already, members of the public have taken the President’s clarion call to heart, thwarting attempts by roadside police officers to take bribes from public transport operators. (In Kenya, it is common knowledge that traffic police regularly take daily bribes from public transport operators to allow them ply the routes with defective vehicles as well as with their vehicles overloaded).
Yes. Already the mood in Kenya is slowly changing.