A committee of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has been urged to investigate corruption claims against immediate former Secretary General of the East African Community Peter Muthuki.
The Legal, Rules and Privileges Committee was told Muthuki committed the offence during his tenure in office.
The committee sat in Arusha on Tuesday to consider documents that were presented to EALA by legislator Kennedy Mukulia (South Sudan) during the 3rd Meeting, 2nd Session of the 5th Assembly in March 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya.
During the session, Mukulia laid on the floor of the House, documents containing allegations of gross corruption and abuse of office against Muthuki.
The Speaker of the Assembly Joseph Ntakuritimana referred the documents to the Committee on Legal, Rules and Privileges, a committee charged with the responsibility of investigating non-compliance with the provisions of the EAC Treaty.
In his submission to the committee, Mukulia emphasised the principles of good governance, accountability, and adherence to the rule of law, as stipulated in the EAC Treaty.
“The documents laid on the table demonstrate impunity, gross abuse of office, disregard for the Treaty and other Community Legal Instruments, indicating grand corporate irresponsibility and mismanagement of the affairs of EAC by an individual, the immediate former Secretary General,” Mukulia told members.
Mukulia tabled several allegations to the Committee of Legal, Rules and Privileges for consideration and investigation.
In his concluding presentation, Mukulia reiterated that the allegations tabled were only symptoms of abuse of office, impunity, and disregard for established procedures and mismanagement of community resources.
He urged the committee not to restrict itself to the symptoms, but establish the officers whose deliberate efforts, or negligence facilitated the alleged abuses.
The committee assured that it will consider the evidence and will investigate the allegations made and tabled against the immediate former Secretary General of EAC and his office.
The committee is expected to submit its findings and recommendations to EALA once the investigations are concluded.