Newly appointed EACC Chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak has set his sights on dealing with the prevalent problem of corruption in the country. Speaking during his swearing-in at the Supreme Court, he said he is focused on making corruption a high-risk venture, “I’m committed to making corruption a high-risk venture in this country. Kenya will be an inhospitable place for people who are corrupt,” he said. The EACC CEO noted that crime doesn’t expire but those culpable will be pursued, “You can acquire dirty wealth but we’ll come for you and make it very expensive because you can’t have a retirement benefit from the proceeds of corruption,” he said.
Twalib, who replaced former CEO Halakhe Wako, called for support form all stakeholders particularly the DPP, DCI, the media and Kenyan in general, as he starts his tenure, set to last six years. He outlined his blueprint of administration, which included focus o effective use of resources available to tackle impactful investigation, building intelligence and undercover capabilities in order to use information not only for reactivating purpose but to improve on knowledge on emerging threats and to identify proactive investigative lines as opposed to reactive investigation. He also said he intends to review the current process and unlock any procedural bottlenecks that prevent the commission from working effectively.
On his part, Chief Justice David Maraga, who presided over the ceremony, said the fight against graft will be won only if it’s done within the framework of the rule of law. He said the agencies involved in the investigations have to do a thorough job and bring cases to court when they are confident of getting a conviction, “If for one reason you think it’s a case you are not going to win, if you bring it you know the result. It will be dismissed because if yourself you are not confident it will succeed what do you expect?” he posed. He added that public servants should do their work as prescribed because Kenyans are very keen at the moment and can’t be taken for a ride.