Catholic Bishops have come out to criticize how Team Tangatanga and Kieleweke are igniting early political heats in the country.
The religious leaders said that the fight against corruption had taken a political trajectory that threatened to erode the gains already made. This is compounded by uncivilized manner in which the country’s different political formations were confronting each other, they said.
The dilemma lies in the political backlash likely to arise should it appear the war on corruption is targeting a particular community.
Deputy President William Ruto’s allies have publicly accused the government of targeting his supporters in the graft war.
“Politics seems to be hijacking the discussions, finding its way into any meaningful attempt to address the evil. We are stuck with the same type of politics and politicians. What we are seeing is a game of musical chairs by recycled players who lack the vision to inspire Kenyans for a better future,” said Mombasa Archbishop Martin Kivuva.
They have also accused the President of neglecting the fight against corruption.
They raised concerns that the anti-corruption drumbeats by President Uhuru Kenyatta, Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti were all ‘suddenly dead’, save for the latest onslaught on former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero.
“We have allowed the dragon of corruption to pull us down to the point where we have accepted it to be our way of life. The scale and magnitude of the allegations of corruption reported in the media has reached alarming levels and this is threatening the fabric of the society,” Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) chairman Archbishop Philip Anyolo said in a statement.
Since the President’s State of the Nation address last month, there appears to be a climb-down from what had looked like a sustained crackdown on corruption.
The President did not hide the fact that he had been under pressure to crack the whip on corrupt government officials but insisted that he would not sack officers being investigated for corruption.
Questions are now being asked whether the President was prevailed upon to go slow on his anti-corruption drive. At least six Cabinet secretaries were implicated in various scandals over the past two months.