President William Ruto has accused a section of Members of Parliament of pocketing bribes totalling Sh10 million to frustrate the passage of the Money Laundering Bill, warning that corruption within parliamentary committees is eroding public trust and threatening the nation’s stability.
Speaking on Monday during a joint parliamentary group meeting bringing together Kenya Kwanza and ODM legislators, the Head of State said intelligence reports pointed to entrenched graft in the legislative process.
“By virtue of the position I hold today, I am a consumer of raw intelligence. I know what’s going on. Do you, for example, know that a few members of your committee collected Sh10 million so that you don’t pass that law on anti-money laundering? Did you get the money?” Ruto posed.
The President further questioned the source of unusually large sums of cash in counties, citing instances of officials handling up to Sh150 million without accountability.
“Where does somebody find Sh150 million? Is that his money? That is money that belongs to the county,” he said.
Ruto warned that such practices were “destroying the credibility of Parliament” and accused some welfare chairmen in committees of turning their positions into extortion rackets.
“This fellow who is called the chairman of welfare in committees—what is their job? Extortion, that’s it,” he remarked.
He stressed that his administration would not stop at public shaming but move to ensure that both the givers and receivers of bribes face arrest and prosecution.
“We are not going to shame them. We are going to arrest them. Both the givers and receivers must be dealt with,” the President declared.