Ngilu now clutching at straws

Water minister Charity Ngilu has been thrust in the eye of the storm over corruption allegations in her ministry, raising speculation that she could be shown the door.

The minister has been caught up in a controversy touching on misuse of water funds, ghost projects and nepotism.

A team of 25 MPs from both sides of the coalition calling themselves the Bipartisan Caucus on Friday asked the Kitui Central MP and other ministers named in connection with corruption to resign.

The group led by Deputy House Speaker Farah Maalim and assistant minister Kabando wa Kabando said all ministers under active Kacc investigation—including Deputy PM Musalia Mudavadi— must resign to make way for speedy and unhindered investigations.

Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission has investigated Mr Mudavadi’s alleged role in the Sh283 million cemetery scandal.

They called on President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to push out those who don’t volunteer to resign.

“The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission has raised the red flag. All ministers standing naked on the graveyard of corruption should give way,” Mr Kabando said.

Mrs Ngilu’s political story shows that she is an ingenious schemer, thick-skinned, fearless and a tenacious lone fighter who stirs gender and tribal sentiments to her defence when threatened.

She has weathered many storms in her political career, but now she has been backed into a corner and is unlikely to emerge unscathed.

Will she survive this time round? It is notable that calls for Mrs Ngilu’s resignation come at a time President Kibaki has displayed uncharacteristic anger at corruption suspects.

Last week, a clearly upset Kibaki declared that individuals swindling the public “should not be alive”.

Mrs Ngilu has been asked to resign over accusations that she has been “looking after her own” after reports showed that of 408 boreholes drilled under her watch, 126 were in her home region of Ukambani.

But she is defiant. “I want to state here very clearly: If I will lose my job because I’ve given to people who deserve water so much, so be it. I’ll be ready to do so. I am doing justice to a community that has suffered for many years.”

Public Works assistant minister Mwangi Kiunjuri, who was transferred from the Water ministry recently, has accused Mrs Ngilu of abetting corruption which has allegedly led to the loss of millions of shillings in water service boards through irregular tendering and inflation of prices.

He says most tenders were awarded to three consultants—some believed to be associated with Mrs Ngilu’s relatives—even when they had not completed previous ones. She has denied the claims.

But there are strong indications the push for her resignation may be extended to Parliament.

The Maalim group warned that Mrs Ngilu and Co will face the wrath of Parliament, which last month pushed former Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula to step aside over allegations of irregular purchases of embassy properties.

They further warned of “unprecedented rebellion” if the ministers facing corruption allegations are not sacked.

Mrs Ngilu told the Sunday Nation she won’t hesitate to step aside should circumstances dictate it. The minister said the debate over corruption in her ministry is all about politics.

“The war is being fuelled by my sworn enemies, and they are known. I have no regrets for what I have done as per my ministry’s mandate,” she said in an interview.

But as the minister put on a brave face in the wake of damning revelations about high-level corruption, critics say her tribulations are not about the “many” water projects she has initiated in Ukambani but about high-level corruption involving some water boards that are dear to the minister.

The Tanathi water services board, whose establishment the minister personally fought for two years ago and even had its headquarters situated in Kitui town in her constituency, is on the spot.

Now, the board is the minister’s nightmare. It was the minister who, apart from founding the board, helped in the recruiting of its chief executive officer Eng Mutuku Nzesya. Through Tanathi, the minister had hoped to solve the persistent water problem in Ukambani.

But alleged mismanagement within Tanathi saw the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission pitch tent in Kitui to unravel the mystery surrounding the loss of more than Sh300 million through fraudulent dealings.

Preliminary investigations by Kacc forced the permanent secretary David Stower to send Eng Nzesya on compulsory leave pending investigations. A procurement officer reportedly left the board over differences with the CEO.

To help Tanathi, at least six water and sewerage companies were established. But trouble began when board members of some of the companies, notably Makindu Water and Sewerage Company Limited, Machakos Municipality Water and Sewerage Company and the Mavoko Company, accused the Tanathi management of interfering in their smooth running.

Infighting between Tanathi bosses and the water companies saw the dissolution of the Machakos Municipality Water and Sewerage Company and the Mavoko Company. Mavoko went to court to challenge their dissolution and won. Machakos Company under Munyao Kamba has also gone to court to challenge their dissolution.

“Supplies worth millions of shillings that Tanathi purports to have bought for use by the water companies were never delivered,” Mr Kamba said. Mr Munyao says due process was not followed, and many staff are earning salaries they don’t deserve.

“At inception Tanathi used to spend Sh700,000 monthly on salaries; today it is spending more than Sh1.2 million. This is because some individuals were brought in through the backdoor with water companies given orders to pay salaries decided on in Kitui town,” Mr Kamba said.

But Mrs Ngilu said the trouble in Tanathi was management, and Kacc had stepped in to clean up the rot.

“Kacc has the report, they have conducted their investigations. Why do they want me to carry somebody else’s cross?” she asked. Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo says Mrs Ngilu’s options are limited.

“As long as the investigations are above board and being carried out by recognised state agencies, then the law is clear that ministers being investigated should step aside.”

There are fears that the corruption allegations may dent Mrs Ngilu’s political ambitions, but her supporters argue that she may gain even more support from Ukambani by trying to portray the image of a politician being punished for helping her people.

Mrs Ngilu has been at the centre of national power politics since the re-introduction of multiparty democracy. In 1997, she vied for the presidency. In 2002, she was one of the founders of the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc), whose 2002 victory ended 40 years of Kanu rule.

Mrs Ngilu, nicknamed “Mama Rainbow,” teamed up with Kijana Wamalwa and Raila Odinga to propel President Kibaki to State House. And in 2007, she backed Mr Odinga for the presidency.

In the run-up to the 2007 elections, she became the first minister to publicly oppose the re-election of President Kibaki.