Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua has welcomed the State of the Nation address by President Uhuru Kenyatta, but faulted him for failing to address rampant corruption challenges facing the country.

In a statement, the former Justice and Legal Affairs Minister said that the President’s reluctance to face the monster of corruption head-on and to demonstrate commitment to addressing it in his final year together with the official display of impunity in the face of court orders is likely to blur his legacy.

“While agreeing that his administration has done remarkably well in infrastructure mainly roads and electricity connectivity the speech does not mention the obvious issue of endemic corruption which leads to exaggerated pricing of these projects this undermining services delivery and often times quality,”

She said corruption has greatly compromised health services during COVID both at the national level and at the county levels, hence the need for seriousness by the government in tacking the challenge.

“Only a handful of counties can boast of improved health services and infrastructure during covid. The leased equipment itself a scandal that continues to rip off counties of much-needed revenue, is underutilized or not utilized at all due to unaddressed personnel hitches,”

The have been no prosecutions from the COVID-19 millionaire’s scandal that led to the suspension of Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) Chief Executive Officer Jonah Manjari and other top officials.

While President Uhuru Kenyatta even set prosecution timelines in the scandal when it was unearthed last year, no one has been taken to court.

“The reluctance to face the monster of corruption head-on and to demonstrate commitment to addressing it in his final year together with an official display of impunity in the face of court orders likely to be a blur on Uhuru’s legacy,”

On Kenyatta’s failure to respect court orders and resorting to appeals every time decisions are made, Karua said, Insistence on a non-existent constitutional moment in the wake of two court rulings and a pending appeal in the Appeal court again demonstrate disdain for courts and the rule of law.

President Kenyatta recently filed an appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge a Court of Appeal decision that agreed with a lower court that the constitutional amendment bid through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) is null and void.

Kenyatta and his administration has also challenged various other court rulings, often failing to obey court decisions. The former Constitutional Affairs minister accused the President of undermining the Constitution by gagging his rivals and asked Kenyans to rise up against authoritarian leadership.

Karua accused the Head of State of prioritizing personal interests in the 2022 succession politics at the expense of pressing issues facing millions of Kenyans including job losses and a bad economy.

“Failure to capture the suffering of the majority in an economy literally growing in the pockets of a privileged few, while a majority can hardly afford the basics casts the government out of touch with the people,”

Edited by: Chepkosgei jedidah