Ex-PS Told Kibaki Of His Fool-Proof Graft Evidence

Daily Nation

14 February 2006 Page: 3

Former Ethics and Governance permanent secretary John Githongo informed President Kibaki of "foolproof" evidence he had months before releasing tapes on corruption. According to a letter covering his report, he says he did this last November 22. Mr Githongo sent the letter to the President with a 91-page dossier in which he detailed his efforts and frustrations in investigating Anglo Leasing-type scandals. He said in the letter that he had decided to be regularly keeping a record of key meetings in which he was involved. He made the President aware of this when he met him at State House, Nairobi, on the evening of February 3, 2004. The dossier in which he detailed the Anglo Leasing scandal, how it began and efforts by some ministers to cover it up was aimed at enabling the President to take action against those behind it. "I am in a position to conclusively substantiate the claims made in the attached report by means of incontrovertible material evidence," Mr Githongo told the President. "I am happy to share this with you directly." The report, which implicates sitting and former Cabinet ministers, was eventually released to the world through a BBC interview with Mr Githongo in the Hardtalk show last week. The Nation Media Group had earlier started serialising Mr Githongos report on Anglo Leasing-type deals. The letter forwarding the dossier directly to President Kibaki was sent a day after the constitution referendum in which the Government suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Orange camp. And Mr Githongo informed the President that he did not wish to release the dossier to him earlier because he did not want to be seen to have influenced the outcome of the referendum. "The reason for this was that my report should be not construed to be part of a politically motivated action in favour of or in opposition to any political formation in the Kenyan context," he said, adding that, in fact, he had completed the dossier two months earlier. He described the cases in the dossier as the worst that were the subject of his attention when he served as the PS. Mr Githongo said he had decided to present the report to the President because he had been informed by a PS that some of the written briefs he had made for the President were "no longer available for one reason or the other that is not in the realm of my understanding." He said he had on several occasions held discussions with the President when he was PS. "I had evidence of culpability by the seniormost officials of our administration in some of the corruption-related scandals that were the subject of my departments interest." He added that they were also the subject of investigations by the controller and auditor-general, the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and, at times, the police. Mr Githongo emphasised the Kenyans trust in the Kibaki presidency which would be salvaged only if the graft cases are dealt with