Kalonzo asks MPs to pass law to effect lifestyle audit order

,Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has asked MPs to pass new legislation to actualise President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive for lifestyle audit on all public officers.

Mr Musyoka said the law as constituted does not allow for a lifestyle audit on all public officers even though they are required to declare their wealth every two years.

A lifestyle audit, Mr Musyoka said, would ensure no one escapes scrutiny including the president, his deputy or any other top state officer.

"Once the framework is in place, we call for the involvement of a reputable international audit firm to work closely with Kenyan agencies to get to the bottom of this unprecedented theft of public resources.

"Illegally acquired public resources must revert to the public and those found culpable must face the full force of the law," Mr Musyoka said as he opened Wiper’s new offices in Karen, Nairobi.

Last week, President Kenyatta ordered a lifestyle audit on all public officers in wake of graft scandals that have gripped the public service sector.

On Monday, Transparency International Kenya (TI Kenya) said it supports the lifestyle audit directive but it needs to be complemented by a robust wealth declaration system for routine asset disclosure in line with section 26(1) of the Public Officers Ethics Act:

“Every public officer shall, once every two years prescribed by section 27, submit to the responsible Commission for the public officer a declaration of the income, assets and liabilities of himself, his spouse or spouses and his dependent children under the age of 18 years.”

Mr Samuel Kimeu, TI Kenya executive director, said the government should put in place mechanisms, aided by technology, for easy processing and analysis of the wealth declaration forms routinely submitted by public officers.

2022 RACE

Meanwhile, Mr Musyoka said his 2022 presidential bid is unstoppable despite the disintegration of National Super Alliance in the wake of the mock swearing-in and Raila Odinga’s handshake with Mr Kenyatta.

But Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana, who attended the ceremony, said Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement must respect an earlier agreement to let Mr Musyoka to be the official opposition presidential candidate.

"We made a deal and Raila Odinga was to be a candidate in 2017 and would not seek the presidency again…ODM would not field a candidate in 2022 either. Mr Musyoka is the candidate. They cannot breach this agreement," Mr Kibwana said.