UK Papers Tell About Blackmail On Githongo

Daily Nation

29 January 2006 Page: 3

Some Cabinet ministers attempted to "buy off" former anti-corruption official John Githongo at the height of concerns on high-level graft, according to reports by UK media. The Economist magazine in particular details how key ministers attempted to "buy off" the former permanent secretary for Ethics and Governance by offering to ensure that "a debt held by Mr Githongo's father with a local businessman, whom Mr Githongo was investigating, would be forgiven." According to the London-based magazine, Western leaders are now watching earnestly for how President Kibaki deals with the scandal. If action is not taken in the immediate future, the Economist says, "foreign donors speak of fiscal consequences including the obstruction of loans and grants that keep the government afloat." The key factor the Kenyan government does not appear to have grasped, the Economist says, is that times have changed since the 1990s and that while Kenyans, and in particular the media, have changed, government ministers and MPs havent. In particular, the magazine praises the role played by the Sunday Nation in highlighting the issue. But the leader is damning of the Narc Government and in particular the "Mount Kenya mafia" who, it says, "appear to have entered politics to make money for themselves and their hangers-on. When they reached the trough, they gorged. In an effort to remain there, they gorged more. None expected Mr Githongo to object." Another respected UK publication, the Financial Times, also highlights Transparency Internationals criticism of the Kenyan Government and the World Banks recent granting of a US$25 million loan to key government ministries.