EACC headquarters at Integrity Centre/FILEMost of the cases handled by the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) in the 2023/2024 financial year were related to bribery, a new report shows.
The report of EACC’s activities and financial statements for the financial year 2023-24 said bribery incidents accounted for 42 per cent of the cases the commission handled during the period under review.
The report said 13 per cent of the cases handled in the year were related to embezzlement/misappropriation of public funds.
It added that 12 per cent were related to unethical conduct,
while 11 per cent were connected to fraudulent acquisition and disposal of
public property.
The report further showed that 22 per cent of the cases were related to other offences which it named as abuse of office, public procurement irregularities, unexplained wealth, conflict of interest, and fraud.
“During the year under review, 45 criminal cases on corruption, economic crimes, and unethical conduct were finalised in court, resulting in 12 convictions, nine withdrawals, and 24 acquittals as a result of long adjudication and decision delay,” the report noted.
The report said out of the 5,171 reports received by the commission, 2,207 were relevant to EACC’s mandate and were recommended for investigation.
“This represented 42.7 per cent of reports received, an increase from 37 per cent in the previous period,” it added.
The report noted that during the period under review, the commission, pursuant to its law enforcement mandate, finalised and forwarded 126 investigation files on corruption and economic crimes to the Director of Public Prosecutions for review.
It said a further 56 investigation files on violations of Chapter Six of the Constitution and Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012 were finalised with various recommendations.
The report said the commission recorded 12 convictions on cases of corruption and unethical conduct, translating to a conviction rate of 26.7 per cent; traced Sh16 billion in illegally acquired and unexplained assets, recovered Sh2.9 billion in corruptly acquired assets; and averted loss of Sh2.9 billion of public funds through proactive investigations.
