Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has called for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to be restricted to handling ethics matters, leaving corruption cases to the police, due to their criminal nature. 

Omtatah, speaking on Spice FM on Tuesday, August 12, accused the EACC of repeatedly overstepping its mandate by attempting to exercise arrest powers reserved for the police, despite lacking the capacity to prosecute those implicated in the loss of public funds.

“We need to be faithful to the Constitution, restrict the EACC to dealing with matters of ethics as required, and get rid of the Act of Parliament that gives them the power to deal with crime, and leave that to the police so that we push the police on their functions.” 

“EACC is a civilian body, headed by a retired Bishop. How do you expect it to be a crime-busting organisation? They are not wired for that,” said the lawmaker. 

He opined that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ Economic and Commercial Crimes Unit was better suited to tackle corruption but was underfunded, and proposed reallocating part of the EACC’s budget to the unit.

Alternatively, Omtatah now suggests creating a specialised body through an Act of Parliament to fast-track corruption cases, some of which Parliament has referred to the EACC, but remain unresolved due to the agency’s operational limits.

He cited inadequate staffing and limited nationwide presence as key weaknesses for the EACC, contrasting them with the police’s extensive network of stations.

“We are shielding people from the police by creating this thing called the EACC. Article 247 of the Constitution gives Parliament power to create special police forces, but they must be under the command of the Inspector General,” Omtatah said. 

“The Constitution mandates EACC to enforce Chapter 6, which is a code of conduct…not a crime, not a penal code. If we need a special police force to deal with theft of public assets, then Parliament should establish one under the IG. The EACC is a complete scam,” he added.

Omtatah, who has declared his presidential ambitions, also criticised the alleged theft of public resources through the privatisation of profitable state assets, citing plans to sell 65 per cent of the government’s stake in the Kenya Pipeline Company.

He further accused counties of abusing supplementary budgets to divert funds from Treasury without emergencies to justify the spending, blaming corrupt law firms for enabling the schemes. 

The Busia Senator also faulted the Office of the Auditor General for producing inconclusive reports that make it difficult for Parliament to act.