The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has rolled out a review of systems and policies to fight corruption within public universities in the country.
A pilot for the program was on October 26, 2022, launched at Moi University.
Speaking during the event at the Kesses-based institution in Uasin Gishu County, EACC Deputy Director Preventive Services Neema Mukorori said the initiative seeks to ensure public institutions stay on the right lane as far as matters of corruption are concerned.
“One of our mandates is preventive measures and to rescue universities from the common problem of corruption. We look forward to putting them into their correct positions as far as corruption prevention is concerned,” said Mukorori.
EACC North Rift Regional Manager Japheth Baithalu on his part said the partnership will see the review of procedures as well as human resources, documents and other policies.
“The purpose is to identify loopholes and give solutions. We will provide enforcement to eradicate corruption that has taken our development back,” said Baithalu.
Motivate others
Moi University Vice Chancellor Prof. Isaac Sanga welcomed the initiative and he expressed optimism that it will motivate other institutions to develop tailor-made solutions to challenges affecting them.
“We have teamed up with EACC so that we can create a clean service and system in our institution to sanitize our culture to serve clients. We are happy Moi University has been chosen so that others can follow the same process,” said Prof. Kosgei.
Once the pilot project succeeds, the anti-graft agency is expected to roll out similar initiatives in all the public universities in the country.
Currently, Kenya has about 30 chartered public universities.
Financial challenges in universities
A majority of public universities in the country have been facing financial challenges that have partly contributed to corruption.
In 2021, the EACC had written to Moi University indicating that they were being probed over ghost workers. The agency has not yet released any official statement indicating the findings of the probe.
The university had at the time dismissed claims of having ghost workers on its payroll.
Further, in 2016, the university faced financial mismanagement claims after a report by the Auditor General indicated that Ksh1 billion could not be accounted for.
The then auditor general Edward Ouko had disclosed that Moi University was operating 56 bank accounts and had 505 ghost workers paid Ksh541 million in the period between 2013 and 2016.
