NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 21- President William Ruto has criticized lawmakers for delaying the passage of the Conflict of Interest Bill, accusing them of stalling efforts to combat corruption.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Parliament during the State of the Nation address, Ruto emphasized the urgent need for the bill, which he described as a critical tool in the fight against graft.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unacceptable for the Houses of Parliament to deny the nation a much-needed instrument in the war on corruption by continuing to sabotage the passage of the Conflict of Interest Bill,\u201d Ruto said. \u201cI implore you to stop dragging your feet on this bill unless, my friends, there is a conflict of interest in the passing of the conflict of interest legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruto also directed the National Treasury to implement the long-delayed e-procurement system by the first quarter of 2025. He decried the decade-long delay, insisting that only procurements conducted through the system would be authorized going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, I direct the National Treasury to roll out the e-procurement system by the end of the first quarter of 2025 and ensure that, going forward, only procurement undertaken through this system is sanctioned,\u201d the President stated.<\/p>\n
The delay in the Conflict of Interest Bill is rooted in a standoff between the National Assembly and the Senate. The National Assembly rejected Senate amendments, accusing the latter of diluting critical provisions in the legislation.<\/p>\n
The Bill, initially passed by the National Assembly, sought to introduce stringent measures to prevent graft and conflicts of interest in the public service. However, MPs argue that the Senate\u2019s changes, including removing the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) as the administrator and weakening conflict-of-interest provisions, would undermine the Bill\u2019s effectiveness.<\/p>\n
Majority Leader Kimani Ichung\u2019wah described the Senate\u2019s amendments as \u201cfertile ground for corruption\u201d and stressed the National Assembly\u2019s responsibility to protect the public\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n
Vice Chair of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, Muenge Mutuse, added that allowing public officials to transact with offices they oversee has been a significant driver of corruption.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Senate amendments are not just retrogressive; they are a direct threat to the war on corruption,\u201d Mutuse warned.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 21- President William Ruto has criticized lawmakers for delaying the passage of the Conflict of Interest Bill, accusing them of stalling efforts to combat corruption. Speaking in Parliament during the State of the Nation address, Ruto emphasized the urgent need for the bill, which he described as a critical tool in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}