Chicken Scandal to Resume as SFO hands over Important Files

By Soko Directory Team / Published February 10, 2016 | 7:31 am

There has been mounting pressure on Kenyan authorities to prosecute the culprits who took part in the ‘Chicken Scandal’ with most quarters blaming the government of Kenya for its show of laxity in handling the issue.

The United Kingdom already prosecuted those who gave the bribe to Kenyan officials but the officials who received the bribe from Kenya are yet to be prosecuted with the worry being that this might follow the long-term tradition in Kenya of the corrupt going scot-free.

All eyes are now turning to the Kenyan authorities after the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office handed over all the documents that shows the in-depth of how the bribe was carried out between those in the United Kingdom and the officials at the examination as well as at the electoral commission.

This means that the matter has now been placed under the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and with some new commissioners at the helm of the commission, some people are expecting something positive to come out of the Integrity building.

The detailed document was presented to the Attorney General Githu Muigai two weeks ago and it is believed that the files have already moved to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. The EACC has in the past been criticized for its unwillingness to bring to justice the officials who took part in the scam.

The files from the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom have all the evidence that the United Kingdom itself used to prosecute and finally jail the directors of Smith and Ouzman for bribing Kenyan officials. The United Kingdom court got the directors with an offence of paying a total of 51 million shillings to the Kenyan officials at the examination as well as the electoral offices.

The EACC is infamous for clearing people accused of corruption on the basis of lack of evidence, now that evidence has been placed before them, people are waiting to see the next excuse they will give for not prosecuting the culprits.

There has been a blame game between the EACC and the office of the DPP over the delay of the cases. The DPP has defended himself saying that his work is not to investigate and prosecute but to recommend and therefore shifted all the blame to the anti-corruption agency. Having no one to blame, the commission has sometimes been blaming the judicial system for being sluggish in prosecuting corruption cases while the judiciary on the other hand has blamed the commission for not presenting enough evidence to prosecute the cases.

The truth is that the United Kingdom prosecuted and jailed those who gave bribes to Kenyan officials and the same files used to prosecute and jail the directors has been handed over to Kenya, how the Kenyans officials will be found innocent is what will shock many.

Article by Juma Fred.

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