President William Ruto has now accused members of the National Assembly and the Senate of demanding bribes from government officials appearing before parliamentary and Senate committees.

Speaking Wednesday at the opening of the 2025 Devolution Conference in Homa Bay County, Ruto said several Cabinet secretaries and governors had fallen victim to the alleged extortion. 

He warned that the practice undermines the fight against corruption and urged the speakers of both houses to act.

“Parliament must be called out. Something is going on in our Legislature that we must call out. There is money being demanded from the Executive, governors, and ministers, especially those who go for accountability before our houses of parliament,” said Ruto.

“Mr Speaker, it cannot continue to be business as usual. It is not possible that Parliament committees continue to demand to be bribed for them to write reports or they look the other way on what is happening in the national government or the counties,” he added.

Questions have been raised about how parliamentary committees conduct investigations into contentious matters such as the privatisation of state assets, with claims that some of the officials appearing received protection after they allegedly greased the palms of some MPs.

“They (MPs) cannot be able to oversight. Why? Because they are part of the take. How do you oversight somebody who has given you money, yet not to oversight?” said Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka, adding, “Kenyans are on their own. Nobody is watching and monitoring what’s going on. What is happening is that these individuals are sharing the loot. If you are not going to be part of that, they demonise you.”

The President’s criticism extended to the Judiciary, which he accused of frustrating the war on graft through the issuance of anticipatory bail to persons being investigated for involvement in corruption.

The orders shield those facing accusations of plundering public resources from arrests and prosecution by the police.

“I want to ask the Judiciary not to be a haven for the corrupt to hide behind judicial decisions. We have an innovation that is only available in Kenya that allows a corrupt person or somebody who has stolen public resources or is in breach of the law not to be prosecuted. Something called anticipatory bail,” Ruto said. 

“It is a Kenyan innovation that takes us backwards.”

Despite his apparent frustration, President Ruto insisted that corrupt leaders must be held accountable and that no ‘calls from above’ would be made to save suspects.

“The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) must take up its role. I have made it absolutely clear that there will be no sacred cows and no telephone calls from anywhere, below or above, to stop anybody from being prosecuted for corruption,” he remarked.