Human rights activists in Kisumu and Nakuru on Monday held demonstrations demanding for arrest and prosecution of those involved in the alleged theft and loss of billions of Covid-19 funds.
The demos dubbed #ArrestCovid19Thieves saw the human rights defenders sing and dance along the major streets of Kisumu as they demanded for justice.
Under the umbrella of Kenya Tuitakayo movement from different social justice centers within the county, the activists said they were perturbed by the looting of the Covid-19 funds.
The activists were outraged by the continued lack of transparency and accountability by the Health Ministry and other governments agencies charged with managing public resources for Covid-19 response efforts and support of social protection programmes.
Bonface Ogutu Akach, the group coordinator noted that the MoH and other government institutions have disregarded calls by Kenyans to embrace openness and accountability by making public the allocations and expenditures of the funds.
They called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to address the nation on the allegations of corruption and announce transparency and accountability measures to be undertaken to safeguard resources against further theft and bring those implicated to book.
"The President must involve anti-corruption and other oversight agencies in the national coordination committee on the response to the coronavirus pandemic to steer comprehensive anti-graft measures that will prevent Covid-19 resources from further pilferage," they stated.
They further called on development partners to demand that the government publishes full information on the disbursement, allocation and utilisation of all funds advanced as grant or loans.
They also demanded that the EACC and DCI fast track their efforts to investigate the already suspected cases of the theft at national and county levels to facilitate the arrest, timely prosecution, adjudication and recovery of stolen resources.
"The Auditor General must conduct an independent audit of all funds advanced for Covid-19 response efforts to all recipients entities including the national and county governments and the Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund Board".
The audit, they added, should include the accounts of the different government institutions using public resources to respond to the pandemic.
They also want all government agencies to publish the names of companies and their beneficial owners and individuals awarded any contracts for Covid-19 related commodities or services and the contract amounts, at both national and county levels on the public procurement information portal.
They demanded that Health CS Mutahi Kagwe provide full disclosure on the distribution of PPEs acquired by the government whether purchased or donated giving full details on the sourced recipients.
The activists also wanted the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Regulatory Authority to publish all information on the criteria for allocation and distribution of social protection funds aimed at mitigating the impact of the pandemic including the list of all beneficiaries and amount disbursed.
At the same time, three human rights activists were arrested during the street demonstrations in Nakuru to pressure for government action against corruption especially on the alleged plunder of billions of meant for mitigating the pandemic.
Police lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse the demonstrators who wanted audience with Nakuru Governor, Lee Kinyanjui and Rift Valley Regional Commissioner, George Natembeya.
They wanted to present an accountability charter detailing their list of demands.
Despite the disruption, the protesters managed to get to the County headquarters where they presented their charter.
Photos by Daniel Ogendo and Ben Ndonga