E-Clips:- Business Pictorial - How Invisible Hand Moved Githongo From State House

As pressure mounted on President Kibakis anti-graft advisor John Githongo to drop the Anglo Leasing probe, the PS was mysteriously transferred from the Office of the President, where he was operating from State House, to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

Former anti-graft advisor John Githongo Clearly, his easy access to Kibaki, which allowed him to brief the Head of State on every development in his investigations, was causing unease among those involved. Githongos transfer was announced by President Kibaki on June 30, 2004 as the Head of State sacked Permanent Secretaries who had earlier been suspended in connection with the Anglo Leasing scandals and also brought in his new Government of national unity.

But only hours after the announcement, Kibaki is said to have expressed "shock" at the transfer, which apparently had been masterminded by an "invisible" hand. Githongos name had been sneaked into the reshuffle list, he was later told. The Justice ministry was at the time under Mr Kiraitu Murungi, one of the ministers who were exerting pressure on Githongo over the matter. "The President was very angry and denied knowledge of the plot," according to evidence on the Anglo Leasing scandal now before the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission.

External interference According to the evidence, Githongo took a weeks leave on learning of the transfer, which he termed a demotion. But a senior Government official called him from State House and informed him that the report was "all a mistake."

Githongo, however, argued that the President had himself announced the transfer, to which the official responded by saying they were investigating the sneaking of his name into the list. Githongo and the official later met with the President, who "expressed shock" at the transfer. Githongo never moved to the Ministry of Justice after this meeting. The transfer, on June 30, 2004, came only a day after Githongo had yet another tiff with Kiraitu over his continuing probe into the Anglo Leasing scandal. He met with Kiraitu in the ministers office on June 29, 2004. "Essentially, he (Kiraitu) said that it was clear Anglo Leasing was us — our people. He said that no matter what, he did not have what it took to order or countenance the arrest of Chris Murungaru over corruption because they had too much history," the evidence quotes Githongo as saying.

During the meeting, Kiraitu admitted to Githongo that the excuse given to him for the Anglo Leasing deals was that the money was needed for political fundraising. Githongos transfer from the Office of the President, where he reported directly to Kibaki, raised questions over the Governments commitment to fighting corruption. Positioning Githongo at State House was presented as evidence of the Governments commitment to stamping out corruption. It gave the docket independence from external interference and strengthened the holders hand to pursue corruption issues, irrespective of who was involved. Bizarre situation

Githongo met Kiraitu a few days after testifying before the parliamentary watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee. He told the committee that the Government had recovered Sh376 million from the shadowy Anglo Leasing Finance Company in just 76 days. The PS told the PAC that the Government had now launched investigations to uncover the owners of the company. He said the Government had received a lot of co-operation from the institutions they had approached internationally.

"We have had a tremendous and enthusiastic co-operation. They are very keen to assist the Kenya Government to get to the truth of the matter," Githongo told the PAC. He termed it as "a rather odd and bizarre situation" where an ostensibly non-existent party was refunding huge sums of money to the Government. In his evidence to the President, Githongo refers to a briefing with the Head of State after testifying. He says that testifying after a former acting PS for Finance, Joseph Oyula, he came out with the feeling that the former had given the PAC details of the people behind Anglo Leasing.

Oyula had told the PAC that he had communicated with an official of Anglo leasing and Finance Company, a Mr Powell Forman Kerry, using fax. However, although the letter had a fax number, it did not show its origin, leading to fears that he may have been dealing with people in Nairobi. But according to Githongo, Mwiraria had earlier confessed to him how he had ordered Oyula to "pick up the phone and call Pereira to return the money".