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The Building Bridges Initiative taskforce has recommended that 5 per cent of taxpayers’ money recovered from graft lords be given to the man or woman who would have raised the flag over the theft of public funds.
This, the BBI says, would help curb the rampant corruption in Public Service.
Chapter Eight of the report, which tackles corruption as a vice that is preventing Kenya from making noticeable economic strides, recommends that the State should “offer a 5 per cent share of proceeds recovered from anti-corruption prosecutions or actions to the whistleblower whose information is necessary to the success of the asset seizure or successful prosecution”.
“This should be done with due regard for the privacy and safety of the whistleblower,” recommends the report.
For instance, in March, 2019, the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) announced that it had recovered Ksh1.8 billion — in assets — from NYS One and NYS Two scandals.
Assets worth Ksh1.3 billion were recovered from NYS One. That means, if the BBI recommendation of awarding 5 per cent to a whistleblower in graft case had been implemented at the time, then the whistleblower would have walked home with Ksh65 million.
In NYS Two, in which ex-Youth Affairs PS Lillian Omollo was allegedly involved in, ARA Director, Muthoni Kimani, said it had recovered Ksh500 million State money. That means, a whistleblower would have taken home Ksh25 million, per the BBI recommendation.
Other measures suggested by the BBI report to curb graft include: barring public officers from doing business with the Government, national and county government executives be compelled to sign and make public wealth declaration forms, digitisation of all government payment systems, leaders linked to graft cases to vacate office with immediate effect, punishing banks found guilty of engaging in money laundering, among others.
The BBI report that was received by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday, November 26, was made public on Wednesday, November 27, at an elaborate function at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi.
