A recent report by consultancy PwC indicated that graft was rife in corporate Kenya. FILE PHOTO | NMG For decades, corporate Kenya has shied away from revealing dishonest employees among its ranks.
The desire to maintain a clean image before the public in the quest to protect their brands has meant that incidents of fraud and theft are ‘quietly’ dealt with and minimal punishment meted out.
This practice has emboldened some workers to steal while creating a public image that rotten apples were only employed in government and State-owned companies.
Therefore, we laud companies like KCB and Safaricom that have in recent years revealed how they deal with crooked workers including termination and even prosecution.
KCB has just disclosed that last year it sacked 13 employees accused of fraud, a slight increase compared to the 10 staff fired in 2018 for abetting graft— which led to the loss of an undisclosed amount of cash
A recent report by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) indicated that graft was rife in corporate Kenya.
This came despite a spirited battle against the vice by institutions mandated to fight economic crimes such as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The PwC report found that bribery and corruption-linked fraud has overtaken procurement-related vice to become the fastest growing form of economic crime in Kenya in the last two years.
But the country has witnessed few prosecutions linked go graft from workers accused of theft in corporate Kenya. The actions taken by KCB and Safaricom in highlighting the vice and punishment dished those responsible should be encouraged, despite the push to eliminate and prevent graft.
This should be the norm, with the target being prosecution.