Land of scandals

The oil and maize scandals are just the latest in a string of dubious deals, which have dogged the Grand Coalition Government since it came to power nearly a year ago.

This is despite an assurance by President Kibaki that corruption would be a thing of the past during his term at the helm.

During the start of his second term in December 2007, President Kibaki pledged to ensure that any of his Cabinet ministers implicated in corruption would be suspended until cleared of such accusations.

Despite this, the Government has hopped from one crisis to another, with senior officials including Cabinet ministers, being implicated in corruption.

Among the latest scandals were the irregular transactions involving the Kenya Pipeline Company and Triton Limited in which financiers risk losing up to Sh7.6 billion.

Irregular payment

The Kenya Tourism Board is still reeling from revelations that its former managing director, Dr Ong’ong’a Achieng’, authorised an irregular payment of Sh43 million to two private companies.

Between April and June last year, the scandal involving the sale of the Grand Regency Hotel, now Laico Regency, threatened to split the bond that has kept PNU and ODM together since the signing of the National Accord, which ended two months of fighting after the December 2007 presidential election.

The secret sale of the five-star hotel to a Libyan company was made public by Lands minister James Orengo in June. As a result, the then Finance minister Amos Kimunya was censured by Parliament, and he resigned from his post to pave way for investigations into the deal.

The hotel, which was formerly owned by businessman Kamlesh Pattni, was sold for Sh2.9 billion amid claims that it could have fetched Sh7 billion in the open market.

Around the same period, Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ found himself in trouble following accusations that he had allowed issuing of work permits to foreigners in questionable circumstances.

Mr Kajwang’ was accused of ignoring advice from his technical officers to give work permits to eight members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — a salesman and a welder — all foreigners who had not met the requirements for being considered as investors. Some of them were accused of doing jobs that could have been done by Kenyans.

Even though the minister maintained that he acted within the law and was also absolved by the parliamentary committee on National Security, he was questioned by Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission detectives who revealed an elaborate cartel of brokers who were making billions of money at the ministry.

The minister’s personal assistant was also arrested during the investigations. On September 25, Somali pirates hijacked a ship carrying military tanks and arms. The Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina, was hijacked off the Kenyan coast with 33 T-72 Russian-made tanks, rocket propelled grenades, 23 anti-aircraft guns and ammunition.

Kenya insisted that the weapons were meant for its military, but a US Navy spokesman said the arms were imported by Kenya on behalf of Southern Sudan.

At around the same time, the De La Rue scandal came to light. It is believed that the scandal cost the then deputy governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Mrs Jacinta Mwatela, her job.

Mrs Mwatela who headed CBK’s tendering committee is said to have opposed the renewal of the De La Rue contract. De La Rue has won most of the contracts through single-sourcing, which Mrs Mwatela had described as illegal.

The Government is said to have lost billions of shillings in the printing of currency, hence Mrs Mwatela’s demand that the tendering be done competitively.

Mrs Mwatela was transferred to the Ministry of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Areas as a permanent secretary. She turned down the job and resigned from the Civil Service.

With her departure, the trail on the De La Rue saga seems to have gone cold. At NSSF, pensioners are said to have lost over Sh3 billion through dubious investments, including the sinking of about Sh1.5 billion in Discount Securities, a trouble stock brokerage firm that has since been put under statutory management.

The revelation followed an intense power struggle pitting Labour minister John Munyes against former managing trustee Rachel Lumbasyo.

The minister wanted to edge out Mrs Lumbasyo to pave way for investigations into the operations of the fund. But the board of trustees resisted.

The entire board was sent packing in December after it emerged that the fund might have lost more than Sh3 billion through dubious transactions.

When the National Rainbow Coalition swept to power in 2002, ending decades of Kanu’s hold on power, President Kibaki promised sweeping changes to root out corruption. Six years down the line, there are fears that the war on corruption is unlikely to be won especially now that President Kibaki is in his last term in office.

Global trends indicate that in their last terms in office, most presidents leave their countries’ economies in the doldrums. The situation in the US, where President George W. Bush is in his last term, is one example.

Further meltdown

After years of deregulation supported by the president’s Republican Party, key sectors of the US economy collapsed and the president appeared helpless to act. This has increased the urgency with which his successor has been acting to stop a further meltdown.

Experts say that during presidents’ last terms in office, laxity to fight graft increases as accountability diminishes.

“In one year only, Kenyans have been treated to a magnitude of corruption they have never seen. We want a major shake-up and we want action from the Government and agencies that were created to fight corruption,” said Law Society of Kenya’s Okong’o O’Mogeni.

He said the Judiciary should learn from the experiences of South Africa where ANC chairman Jacob Zuma is facing corruption charges.

Mr Zuma is expected to win the presidential election in April.

Fight corruption

“Our Judiciary should be put in the dock for the pace at which cases of corruption are being handled,” he said.

Similarly, Justice, Constitutional Affairs and National Cohesion minister Martha Karua said: “We have the duty as a coalition to tackle this issue of corruption once and for all. We owe it to Kenyans to rid this cancer of corruption.”

She said that Office of the Prime Minister, which is in charge of supervision and coordination of Government ministries, should add value to governance.

“It should closely monitor scandals so that they are not unearthed when a lot of damage has been done,” she said.