William Ruto
President William Ruto on Tuesday, August 19, established a new multi-agency team to intensify the war against corruption in Kenya.
In a statement, Ruto said the Multi-Agency Team on War Against Corruption (MAT) will coordinate efforts among various state agencies to tackle corruption, economic crimes, and related offenses.
The team comprises the Executive Office of the President, the Office of the Attorney General, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), and Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) are also involved.
Others are the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).
The Executive Office of the President will chair the multi-agency team, while the Office of the Attorney General will head the secretariat.
The multi-agency team has been tasked with enhancing inter-agency coordination and collaboration among participating organizations, while engaging other relevant government agencies and private sector entities to maximize the effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts.
“The MAT is mandated to create synergy and inter-agency cooperation in the fight against corruption, economic crimes, and related offenses,” Ruto said.
The team will also focus on identifying resource needs for each participating agency and facilitating collaborative support systems.
Further, MAT will seek to engage both domestic and international partners to improve the battle against economic crimes as well as organised crime and enhance efforts to recover proceeds of graft.
This comes just one day after President Ruto made allegations against Members of Parliament during a joint parliamentary meeting.
Speaking on Monday, August 18, the President accused some parliamentarians of accepting bribes to influence legislation.
“Do you, for example, know that a few members of your committee collected Sh10 million shillings so that you don’t pass that law on anti-money laundering? Did you get the money?” he asked.
