Kenyan senators are demanding answers from the country’s top prosecutor after a string of corruption cases linked to county governments were quietly withdrawn.
The issue surfaced on Wednesday, when the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) appeared before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee. Lawmakers pressed the commission to explain why the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has dropped several graft cases without consulting them.
According to EACC, at least 18 county-related cases have been withdrawn since 2013. They include matters from Isiolo, Makueni, Tharaka, Turkana, Nakuru and Nyeri.
Senator Erick Okong’o, who sits on the committee, voiced sharp concern.
“If we sweep these things under the carpet, we will not be assisting the country,” he said. “When you tell us you are not consulted, there seems to be a disconnect between EACC and the DPP.”
Okong’o went further, suggesting that Parliament could consider changes to the Constitution to give the EACC stronger authority.
“We can amend the Constitution if we have to,” he told the hearing. “We cannot be treating the war against corruption this casually.”
The scrutiny comes as the ODPP, under Director Renson Ingonga, has sought to withdraw corruption charges against former Migori governor Okoth Obado. Obado, four of his children and several associates had faced allegations of misappropriating 505 million shillings through fictitious contracts.
The EACC had also filed civil suits seeking to recover 1.9 billion shillings it said was stolen from Migori County. That effort has now been scaled back after an out-of-court settlement in which Obado agreed to surrender properties worth 428 million shillings.
Critics argue the withdrawals cast doubt on the government’s commitment to tackling graft, particularly at the county level, where billions of shillings in public funds flow each year. Supporters of the settlements say they recover taxpayer money more quickly than drawn-out trials.
For now, senators want clarity on who decides when cases are dropped—and why. The battle over jurisdiction between prosecutors and anti-graft investigators is likely to sharpen in the months ahead.
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