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The Standard Thursday Date: 12.02.2015 Page 14 Article size: 100 cm2 ColumnCM: 22.22 AVE: 53333.33 End corruption to improve economy The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Finance Henry Rotich has been forced to introduce tax on pe troleum products by the IMF in ex change for a Sh63 billion 'precau tionary loan' to protect the falling shilling. This move, expected to be ef fected in June, will increase infla tion and raise cost of goods and ser vices by up to 16 per cent in many instances. The dollar loan became neces sary after the economy deteriorat ed due to factors like fall in tourism and tea earnings and other factors like low exports. You would be excused for think ing that the global low oil prices would help our economy but a re port by the audit firm Deloitte says that Kenya has failed to invest in ad equate storage facilities and there fore this onceinalifetime phe nomenon will bypass us unnoticed. This jawdropping reality has shocked many considering that the Government has not bothered to put in place mitigating factors. Tea prices have fallen due to a glut whose major contributor is Ken ya itself. Nobody bothered to talk to farmers through KTDA over this. As the shilling faces a free fall, reports from Swissleaks reveal bil lions stashed abroad by Kenyans, many who cannot explain how they got the money. The Government should ask the taxman to open dollar denominated accounts in all 54 tax havens, then dust the report by Kroll and Associ ates in an effort to recover the esti mated US 400 billion dollars cited in the report. Our economy stands to gain a lot if corruption is tackle. And to do this, the rule of law must be enforced 100 per cent. If you look at the cause of all our problems, it is corruption whereby civil servants divert funds to sec tors where they can force bribes to be given. In other words, our budgetary process is geared towards bribes. Kariuki Muiri, via email} Ipsos Kenya Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road Lavington Nairobi Kenya