E-Clips:- Business Pictorial - Regrets At Githongo's Resignation

Two key Cabinet ministers on a special committee set up to fight graft yesterday expressed their regret at Mr Githongos resignation. Lands minister Amos Kimunya and Local Government chief Musikari Kombo described his departure as a blow to Cabinet efforts to tame corruption. Mr Githongo was the secretary of the seven-man committee on corruption.

"As a member of the Cabinet sub-committee on anti-corruption, I see it as a loss to us. He knew what he was doing and he did it with the diligence of a professional," said Mr Kimunya. It was sad that the Government had lost a dedicated worker due to frustrations. Mr Kombo said the PSs resignation left a gap in the war against graft but he said the Government would not give up the fight.

"It is regrettable that Mr Githongo had to resign for whatever reasons he gave. Corruption must be fought and I am sure the Government will not give up the fight," he said. The sub-committee was set up to map government strategies that will lead the fight against graft. Other members include Cabinet ministers Raila Odinga (Roads and Public Works), Kiraitu Murungi (Justice and Constitutional Affairs), David Mwiraria (Finance) and Chris Murungaru (National Security).

The two ministers spoke as 20 NGOs said President Kibakis indifference to corruption had finally led to Mr Githongos resignation. He decided to step down as Governance and Ethics PS after months of reflection, said Transparency Internationals Gladwell Otieno. The NGOs accused the President of losing interest in war against corruption and demanded that he should sack ministers and senior civil servants suspected of corrupt deals.

Labour minister Newton Kulundu said the war on graft would succeed only after those making allegations of corruption against individuals were named. It was unfortunate, said Dr Kulundu, that Kenyans were being treated to accusations and counter accusations about individuals in Government without them being named. "Even suggestions that Githongos resignation was caused by frustrations from unnamed individuals in Government is defeatist," he said.

Addressing a news conference at the Stanley Hotel yesterday, Ms Otieno told Journalists that she spoke to Mr Githongo on Monday evening, just hours after he resigned. She said: "It came after a long reflection of many months. This decision was based on lack of backing from the President in the fight against corruption. He resigned in honour. He had done his best and it was impossible to go on."

The NGOs threatened to lobby Parliament to pass a vote of no confidence in the Government if the President failed to act. Mr Githongo was the first executive director of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International, a global anti-corruption watchdog. The NGOs stepped up the pressure on President Kibaki to reorganise his government and appoint only credible ministers and senior officials.

"As founder executive director of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International, Githongo brought to the Government ethical credibility and legitimacy whose financial benefits can only be said to be indisputable. Thus, his resignation sounds a death knell on this governments purported anti-corruption effort," the joint statement, read by Ms Otieno and Mazingira Institutes Davinder Lamba, said. The NGOs expressed concern over Mr Githongos safety and asked the Government to guarantee his security.

Other organisations represented were Kituo cha Sheria, African Womens Development and Communication Network and the International Commission of Jurists. Others were the Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness, Childrens Rights Advocacy, Documentation and Legal Education, Coalition on Violence Against Women, Constitutional Reform and Education Consortium, EcoNews Africa, Institute for Education in Democracy, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Legal Resources Foundation, National Council Executive Committee, Release Political Prisoners, Transparency International, Urgent Action Fund and Youth Agenda.

The Government is yet to take action on judicial decisions that were influenced by corruption despite the much-talked-about "radical surgery". Even the independence of the Judiciary is not yet secured, Ms Otieno said yesterday. The resolution of the Cabinet committee on corruption that wealth declaration forms be accessible to the public has not been implemented, she lamented.

In fact, performance on the anti-corruption front leaves a lot to be desired so far, she said while addressing a conference called by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) to discuss the status of implementation of the Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS), which was released by the Government in June 2003. Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a Nzeki described Mr Githongos resignation as "unfortunate" since he was very qualified for the post. Archbishop Ndingi said Mr Githongo must have been frustrated in his work by people who did not want to see the Government act on his reports on corruption.

He went on to dismiss speculation that he had met Mr Githongo just before he left the country. The last time the two talked was when the former PS was appointed, when they had held a discussion and the archbishop had prayed for him. "Anybody who says that I met him before he went out of the country is a liar, Archbishop Ndingi told the Nation last night. Meanwhile, the Kenya Episcopal Conference was expected to meet tomorrow to suggest a way forward, said Fr Vincent Wambugu of the Kenya Catholic Secretariat.

Office of the President assistant minister Soita Shitanda said Mr Githongos resignation lent credibility to British envoy Sir Edward Clays claims against the Government. "It is a confirmation that concerns raised by Clay over time have some substance and the Government should treat Githongos exit as a demand to clear issues raised," he said. He blamed President Kibakis decision to keep in employment top officers who served in the former Kanu government as the reason for high level corruption.

Unless the officers are dismissed, he stated, the war against corruption will not be won. Ntonyiri MP Maoka Maore claimed the Ethics PS was forced out office by a group of influential ministers who were unhappy with his work. The group, he added, had lied to President Kibaki that it was Mr Githongo who passed over information on corruption in government to Sir Edward Clay.

"There is a powerful clique within government that inherited the whole carcass of corruption from the old Kanu regime. They have been very irritated by the presence of Githongo such that they have been persistent liars to the President that it is Githongo who was the source of the dossier on corruption to the donors," he claimed.

While questioning the Governments decision to conceal the dossier on graft, Mr Maore said Mr Githongo should have quit earlier before his integrity was damaged. Mukurweini MP Mutahi Kagwe urged Sir Edward to make public the list of corruption cases he submitted to President Kibaki. It was not enough, he said, for the envoy to talk of "marionettes and puppets" while holding secret the information. "We are asking Edward Clay to make public the dossier because he cannot talk of the marionettes and puppets without exposing them," he said.