E-Clips:- Business Pictorial - Heads May Roll In Govt Attack On Corruption

Elected 18 months ago on an anti-graft platform, the Kibaki government is facing its first major test over the suspended Sh2.7 billion passports contract that could have far-reaching repercussions.

The scandal raises the prospect of a major shake-up in government ranks over corruption.

Alarm bells are ringing both in government and in civil society at the grim prospect of a return of "the corrupt networks that held the State hostage under the former regime which have started attempting to regroup," in the words of anti-graft czar John Githongo.

His remarks were a veiled reference to the re-emergence of names such as those of the people who were behind the shady purchase of the infamous Mahindra jeeps for the police a number of years ago.

Along with this has been talk a number of businessmen and senior officials colluding on corrupt deals mainly related to procurement in government departments.

Says Mr Githongo, the Ethics and Governance Permanent Secretary: "Anecdotal evidence would now suggest to me that we now have within ourselves an administration, possibly at high levels in government as well as individuals - a few of them - who may have become captives of of these corrupt networks that are trying to regain their hold on the state."

Other senior government officials have made pronouncements on the issue and action has already been taken on figures at permanent secretary level and there are hints that even ministers could soon be called to account for their actions if found to be corrupt.

Treasury PS Joseph Magari and his home affairs counterpart, Mr Sylvester Mwaliko, have both recorded statements with anti-corruption detectives in connection with the passports deal. It is the first time in Kenya that such senior government figures have had to write statements to the police on such matters.

And in a speech to an international business conference in Nairobi, Mr Githongo gave the strongest hint yet that big heads could roll in the war against corruption.

Said he: "The Government is aggressively investigating all serious allegations of corruption even in its own ranks."

He said there would be no favouritism and that the Kibaki administration was "willing to pay the political price of fighting corruption in its own ranks, no matter how high that corruption reaches."

A well-placed government source told the Sunday Nation: "The fact that people at the level of permanent secretary have recorded statements with the police on corruption means the President is showing which side he is on in this matter."

The same source suggested that though it was the prerogative of the President to reshuffle the Government: "There could be a shake-up on the way. But it will have to be done all at once, with a coalition you cannot take a piecemeal approach to such matters."

Since the Narc Government came to power after the December 2002 General Election, eyebrows have been raised at the sudden wealth exhibited by some public officials who had hitherto been labouring under the cloud of pecuniary embarrassment.

Said Githongo of such officers: "And so for those who believe they have finally joined the gravy train, those public officials who would appear to have suddenly won a secret lottery to which wananchi were somehow unable to participate - their days are numbered."

There has been mounting public criticism of the contract for the purchase of passport issuing equipment which was inflated from a Sh800 million project to one costing Sh2.7 billion and then awarded to a French firm without competitive tender.

On Wednesday, the Government halted the controversial contract and National Security Minister Chris Murungaru pledged to Parliament that investigations into the project would be completed by the end of the week and the outcome made public "at the earliest possible time."

On Thursday evening, the two businessmen mentioned in connection with the deal, Mr Jimi Wanjigi and Mr Deepak Kamani, recorded statements in Nairobi with anti-corruption detectives who wanted them to explain their role in the affair.

This followed the recording of statements by PSs Magari and Mwaliko on Tuesday.

Mr Wanjigi, who during the last General Election and for a brief period shortly after the Narc Government came to power, was an aide to Education Minister George Saitoti, was named in Parliament as having "solicited funding for the project." This was in a statement read a fortnight ago by Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Moody Awori.

Earlier, the Kamani family had been named when the man who exposed the whole deal, Mr Maoka Maore, the Kanu MP for Ntonyiri, had said that the passport deal had been brokered by the same company behind the purchase of the unsuccessful Mahindra Jeeps for the Kenya Police some years ago. The company was Kamsons Ltd, which is owned and run by the Kamani family.

And on Friday, Mr Githongo laughed off allegations making the rounds that he has been compromised in the fight against corruption.

Answering a query about documents in possession of the Sunday Nation that purport to show a transaction between the government of Kenya via the Central Bank and the internationally recognised asset recovery firm, Kroll Associates and to link Mr Githongo with a bank account at the British bank Lloyds, the PS said the document was piece of disinformation and that Kenyans should expect to see more of such.