NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 8 — Outgoing European Union Ambassador to Kenya Henriette Geiger has delivered a blunt assessment of Kenya’s fight against corruption, describing graft as the country’s “Achilles heel” and warning that no economy can thrive while public resources continue to be siphoned through unchecked corruption.

📻 Breaking It Down

Speaking during a farewell engagement with journalists as she concluded her five-year diplomatic posting, Geiger challenged the government to intensify the fight against graft, saying successive administrations had promised reforms but delivered little meaningful progress.

“What is the big Achilles heel of Kenya is corruption,” she said.

“All parties and all candidates promised paradise, promised heaven, and nothing happened. Everybody says corruption has reached unprecedented levels, and a government and a country cannot prosper like that.”

📌 What You Need to Know

The veteran diplomat argued that Kenya requires a national “reset” in the fight against corruption, saying tackling graft cannot be left to a handful of institutions or individuals but demands collective responsibility from government and citizens alike.

“You cannot just pinpoint one person because then you only create a scapegoat while everybody else gets away,” she said.

“The whole of Kenya has to say enough is enough. People have to realise they are also part of the problem and therefore part of the solution.”

Geiger said the country’s anti-corruption strategy should focus on making corruption significantly riskier than it currently is, arguing that the perceived rewards far outweigh the consequences for offenders.

“The first thing that needs to happen is to make it very risky to engage in corruption because many people think they can get away with it,” she said.

Drawing comparisons with European countries, she said public officials found engaging in corruption should immediately lose their positions before facing criminal prosecution.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya