Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday warned perpetrators of corruption of severe action, saying the fight against the vice is unstoppable and will be painful to them.

Kenyatta said corruption has reached levels that anger all Kenyans because the vice threatens the very foundation and trust on which the nation rests.

“Corruption threatens the trust which is at the heart of what it means to be Kenyan. That is why we are so incensed by it. That is why we must end it,” he said when he opened the UN Global Compact’s 17th Anti-Corruption Working Group Meeting and International Anti-Corruption Conference in Nairobi.

The two-day conference will discuss the role of the private sector and whistleblowers in the fight against the vice, and the illegal killing and trade of wildlife, among other issues.

Kenyatta asked the private sector, which has a direct stake in the success against corruption, to hold other sectors including international friends and partners to the same code when doing business.

He said untamed corruption had interfered with business operations, national examinations, availability of medicines and delivery of health care in hospitals and at worst, the radicalisation of the youth.

“If these habits continue, they will destroy all trust between Kenyans, and between them and their government,” Kenyatta said.

The Kenyan leader said the anti-graft war is not about individuals, but against the vice and must target all perpetrators, including senior members of government.

He said he has brought all the anti-corruption agencies together and they are working in harmony “for the first time in history”, noting that there has been progress and results to show on the new drive.

“More than 350 cases are in progress and many relate to some of the highest-ranking members of government. This is a war against corruption, not against the small fish,” he said and challenged the judiciary to do its part to ensure the war on corruption is sustained and won.

The president said since the government started the new war on corruption, there have been wide consultations with the private sector, resulting in the drafting of the Bribery Bill (drafted by the private sector), which is at the Attorney General’s office and will later be presented to the National Assembly for debate.

That partnership, said the President, has also resulted in the new code of conduct for the business community to which the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) recently committed itself to and which the government is adopting as part of its regulations under the procurement law.