Scandals - Who Is Telling The Truth

The People Daily

25 January 2005 Page: 7

President Kibakis special adviser on corruption John Githongo revealed in a recent exclusive interview with a local newspaper that investigations into the Shs 7 billion Anglo Leasing scandal were almost complete. He said right now the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission is in the final stages of preparing the files on involvement of a number personalities in the scandal so it can forward them to the A-G for prosecution by the end of this month. He, however, declined to state how many files have been opened and names of those named. Independent sources, however, indicated at least four personalities are likely to face charges related to the worst scandal in the two-year-old Narc administration. Interestingly a day after Githongo spoke, anti-graft czar and the minister for justice and constitutional affairs Kiraitu Murungi came out fighting in which he exonerated the Kibaki governments involvement in the Anglo Leasing affair. He said this was a scandal that never was and placed the blame squarely on media for blowing it out of proportion. According to the minister, the graft was perfected by the previous Moi regime and Narc moved to stop it. He, however, contradicted himself when he said everything would be done to bring the culprits to Justice. Why bother if the scandal was a creation of the media? The fact is that the versions of top graft czars left the public more confused and created room for speculation. The question in the lips of many was: Who between the graft czars was telling the truth? Looking into the history of the Anglo Leasing scandal, it is clear that the Kiraitu version cannot hold any water. But as a politician, he can be forgiven for engaging in cheap politics instead of letting the law take its course in pursuing the culprits. Sample this: If Narc has no blemish, how come it approved via Treasury payments a whopping Slis 241 million to this company? Were it not for this exposure, it had factored into the budget more payments? Did it deserve this payment given that it never offered any service to controversial contracts processing terrorist proof passports and putting up of CID forensic laboratories? Why were five top government officials, including PSs in Treasury and Home Affairs, sent packing soon after the media exposed this scandal? It is not lost that following public outcry, the state moved to set a parliament inquiry, which was headed by MP James Magari. It named and summoned high-flying ministers to appear in person, but they declined to honour the summons. Why were they summoned if no graft exists? We recall that the government spokesperson Alfred Mutua also announced a return of some Shs 90 million. He, however, rubbed the finance minister David Mwiraria the wrong way as he stated that no money was returned. Notably, the Kibaki regime had also sought the help of five countries in Europe in tracking down the culprits. The assistance involved tracing the location of head office of shadowy Anglo Leasing, which though initial report indicated it was registered in Britain remains mystery, its directors and physical address are also shadowy. Why would the government commence such investigations if no graft exists? This is why the Kiraitu version cannot hold any water but only paint the government in bad light. Indeed, contrary to pre-election pledges of zero-tolerance to corruption, it makes Narc regime look as if it has lost the war on graft. Can they do something to shed off this image? Joseph Mutua, P.O. Box 10174 (00100), Nairobi.