Come Up With Graft Evidence Daily Nation 12 May 2004 Page: 4
A Cabinet minister yesterday challenged those accusing the Government of corruption to provide evidence.
Mr Karisa Maitha asked the media to provide the Government with names of those engaged in corruption. Claims of corruption in the Government "were just speculations while the media carried generalised reports," he said yesterday.
The Local Government minister asked critics to stop comparing the Narc Government with that of Kanu "which was in power for 40 years while Narc has only been there for one and half years".
"Whatever you hear or read, you might think that the country is on fire. We as a Cabinet are perturbed with what we hear and read in the media," said the minister when he launched an ex-street youth training programme at Young Men Christian Associations Shauri Moyo centre in Nairobi.
Questions had been raised as to why a Sh800 million tender to buy passport issuing equipment was expanded into one costing Sh2.7 billion and awarded to a French firm without competitive bidding.
Investigations into the deal have been launched by the Public Accounts Committee and the Governments anti-corruption boss, Mr John Githongo. But yesterday, Mandera Central MP Bilow Kerrow asked the Government to probe and act on the rising corruption claims among its rank and file instead of looking for scapegoats elsewhere.
Mr Kerrow dismissed claims by Mr Murungi that the graft claims were being exaggerated by politicians and a section the media. The MP asked the minister, who is a lawyer, to support efforts by the media and the politicians as whistle-blowers, instead of criticising them for highlighting suspicious transactions in and outside the Government.
He reminded the minister that since last year, the Public Procurement Appeals Board, housed at the Treasury, had annulled several irregular contracts among dozens that had been appealed against by aggrieved parties. "The fact that the board was able to annul several contracts confirms that there is a real big problem in the Government. The problem persists even today," the Kanu shadow Finance minister said.
Mr Kerrow said Mr Murungi defence of the Government was "unfortunate and unethical," adding it showed that the 16-month-old Narc regime was starting to have a thick skin by being insensitive to public opinion. The Kanu MP said: "It is unfortunate for the minister to suggest that all the graft allegations are politically-driven knowing fully well that we have backed all of them with facts and the irregular contracts have even been annulled by the public procurement and complaints board in the Ministry of Finance."
The Mandera Central MP cited the major cases as the Nairobi City Council insurance tender contract with Invesco; the Kenya Ports Authority cranes contract, a contract to computerise all government departments; and the Sh2.7 Billion passports scandal in the immigration department among others.
In his statement, the minister denied the grand corruption claims saying the war on graft was on course and there would be no sacred cows in the current or previous regime. "I would like to assure all Kenyans that the Government remains steadfast in the fight against corruption. The fight is at the top of our national priorities," Mr Kiraitu, whose docket as Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister includes the fight against corruption, had said.
He was apparently referring to the controversial Sh2.7 billion passports contract that has dogged the Home Affairs ministry, headed by Vice-President Moody Awori, for the past month.
It was first exposed in Parliament by Ntonyiri MP Maoke Maore of Kanu, who claimed that someone in government "pocketed Sh1.7 billion" in the tender. Questions haved been raised as to why a Sh800 million project for the purchase of passport issuing equipment was expanded into one costing Sh2.7 billion and the tender awarded to a French firm without competitive bidding.
Investigations into the deal have been launched by the Public Accounts Committee and the Governments anti-corruption boss, Mr John Githongo. On Monday Mr Murungi accused some "corrupt elements in society and unseen forces" of being bent on undermining the governments anti-graft campaign.
Yesterday, Mr Kerrow, who is an accountant by professions, maintained that the vice started to rear its ugly head last year, after Narc took over from Kanu after the 2002 general elections, when Finance minister David Mwiraria, suspended all the procurement officers before suspending the procurement regulation and giving his Permanent Secretary, Joseph Magari, the sole power to approve all contracts.